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Carmen was suiting up in the locker room. Wrapping up her fists, nice and secure. Sliding into her tights, pulling down her workout bra, lacing her boots all the way up. She stood up when it was all done and checked the mirror, doing a few stretches in front of it. She looked good. She felt good. She was dressed and ready to compete.

So it was almost a shame that she wasn't about to compete at all. At least, not really.

She made her way out of the locker room with her gym bag in hand and took the short walk to the Tension arena gym. Usually the place would've had a few wrestlers hitting the weights, slugging the bags, working on moves in the ring. None of that, today. The gym had been cordoned off for the time being and had a bunch of computer equiment set up around the ring, with a dozen or so tech-heads working on it. Camera equipment was there, too, pointing towards the ring, and it looked every bit as fancy as the big ones the AFW used to shoot their matches.

It all seemed a little overly elaborate to Carmen. But, then again, she hadn't even played a videogame in about ten years, so what did she know?

That was what the whole idea, here. Yuke's was working on the next AFW videogame, Friction vs. Tension, and they'd given her a call to come in and get some footage. Not her specialty, but this sort of thing was in her contract, so refusing it wasn't an option. Not that she could've afforded to if it was. They were offering her a decent sum for her time, and with her gym still starting up, it was money she'd happily take.

She still wasn't sure what she was supposed to do beyond dressing up in her ring attire, though. But she hoped that the hispter-looking Japanese girl with the unnescessary goggles on her head would fill her in.

"Carmen Rodriguez!" The girl said in perfect pronunciation as she approached, making her one of the first natives Carmen had met to get her full name right on the first try. She took it as a good sign. "Ritsuko Hanamoto, lead designer. Thanks for coming by."

"Not a problem." Carmen dropped her gym by the sid eof the door and shook Ritsuko's hand. "Still iffy about what you need me to do, though. The guy on the phone talked about shooting footage, but..."

"That's all it is, really." Ritsuko moved back and motioned for Carmen to follow her towards the ring. "We're just trying to put together some footage for the opening cinematic, maybe get some motion capture, nothing too big. All you have to do is wrestle around, do a few moves, have a little light match. Make it look real and that'll be enough."

Huh. That did sound pretty simple. And it was good news for Carmen's workout routine. She'd been worried about losing time on her workout routine, but this would be a good way to make up for that. "Sounds good, I can do that." She nodded, though it did raise a pertinent question. "Who am I working with?"

Reira frowned as she entered the Tension Gym, title belt in her gym bag along with her ring outfit. Apparently she was here to shoot footage for some dumb video game. Whatever. They were paying her well, so it really didn't matter what they wanted her to do, money was money.

Moving to the locker room, she changed, coming out in her Stryper colored outfit, title belt over her shoulder as she moved over to the ring, seeing another girl in fight gear talking to somebody.

"Hey, I got a call to come down here for some game thing?"

She said loudly, entering the ring after walking up the steps, and going up the women in the ring.

"Reira Kirishima, Tension World Champ...one of you wanna tell me what I'm doing here?"

....ah, crap. Reira Kirishima.

Carmen had been keeping track of the title scene, watching it to see if there was a good opportunity for a shot of her own. She'd been hoping to take John Mitchell on in a match, and she'd even discussed it with him a couple of times. That discussion was rendered moot when Reira stole the title right out of John's hands. Then she held on to that title, and Carmen had to watch while she defended it against a friend of hers, Domino, and proceeded to screw him over without an ounce of shame.

Needless to say, Carmen had a few cross words for 'Reira Kirishima, Tension World Champion', but now wasn't the time or the place. She was a professional and she'd act like one.

"Carmen Rodriguez." She extended her hand for a shake, knowing full well that it would likely be ignored, and put on her best business face. No mirth, no glaring, just a calm demeanor. "They just want us to have a little play match togethter, nothing too serious. Do a few moves, light sparring, look good for the cameras. Easy."

Reira simply raised her eyebrow at the hand that was offered, adjusting the belt on her shoulder.

"Play match huh? I don't play. But I suppose if I'm being paid well enough, I could bother to waste some time here."

She said, taking the title off and laying it the corner.

"So...do we do anything first, or should we just start going at it?"

About as pleasant as a bag full of scorpions. Lovely.

Ritsuko, clearly putting on the best fake smile she could find, made her way between Reira and Carmen. "If you could, we'd like you start off by circling each other, then going into the thing where your arms are meeting and you grab each other and push-"

"Collar and elbow."

"Right!" She chirped and snapped her fingers. "From there, just do what you do, but try to go for the flashier moves. Got it?"

Carmen nodded. "Got it." She wasn't the most skilled wrestler in Tension by a long shot, but she'd picked up some decent moves in the past year, enough to raise eyebrows during her recent matches. She could do this. In theory.

She started to bounce on her heels and move around the ring, getting into position for the tie up while Ritsuko made a hasty exit. "Look, if you want to get a little energy into it, fine, but it's not a real match. Save some for when the belt's really on the line."

Reira nodded, shaking her arms out and loosening up.

When she was ready, she'd get in the center of the ring and raise her arms, locking up with Carmen. They would remain like that for a short while, pushing against each other, the camera moving around them to capture the footage.

It had just finished its first rotation around the ring when Reira, with a smirk, suddenly shoved hard against Carmen's chest, trying to shove her down.

Carmen locked up with Reira, met the smaller woman for the collar and elbow, and...nothing much happened, actually. She didn't put too much effort into it, just tried to look like there was a real strain going on, but she wasn't going full power. Nothing serious.

Fair enough. If Reira was going to go easy, then maybe this wouldn't be-

"Guh!" The sudden push took her totally off guard and sent her rolling ass-over-teakettle, flopping over her shoulders before she landed on her knees. It hadn't just been the element of surprise, either - Reira had a surprising amount of strength packed in that body.

Carmen looked up and glared at the champion as she made her way back to her feet. Her calm demeanor replaced it quickly enough, but her voice still had a hint of venom. "Strike one."

Reira had her fun, did a little chest-thumping, whatever. Carmen figured it was out of her system now, so she went back to business and came at her with a clothesline, telegraphing it well enough that Reika would have time enough to prepare.

The cocky smirk stayed on Reira's face as Carmen got up and continued, the champ ducking the clothesline.

While ducking the move however, Reira brought her arm forward and caught Carmen's leg as she passed by, intending to throw the girl off balance and trip her to the mat. A petty move, but one Reira found hilarious.

It was a clothesline. Just a little clothesline. One of the most basic, fundamental move in all of wrestling. Carmen set it up, she'd telegraphed it, she couldn't have made it easier to avoid if she'd sent Reira a letter in advance.

And how was this repaid? Did the champion just give her some soft move? Maybe a little suplex, a counter, something Carmen wouldn't have had any problem selling?

Nope. Reira tripped her and made her fall flat on her face. Dick move.

Carmen pounded her fist into the mat and huffed, getting back to her feet."Strike two." She said it loud and clear, making sure Reira got the gist as she retook her stance. Carmen moved towards her and brought her hands up for a test of strength, staring the redhead straight in the eyes. The last two hits had been freebies, but if Reira kept playing games, the third would cost her.

"Oh, don't be so sensitive. You're the one that said to "play around""

Reira replied, that smirk still on her face as she brought her arms up and interlocked her fingers with Carmen's, and pushing against her. Reira was strong, but she had a feeling Carmen had more power in her than her smaller body let on.