Cat Scratch Fever

The Friction audience had just started to settle into the stands, getting ready for another exceptional show from the most dominant wrestling league in the world. Things promised to be interesting tonight - there were a few tag matches in store,  the Dojo girls were supposed to be in action, and there was, of course, going to be a healthy dose of hentai to keep the sizeable 18-and-up demographic pleased. Before they got started, though, Valley Doll intended to give them all a little extra bang for their buck.

The crowd came alIve as Van Halen tore through the stands, and Valley came out from behind the curtains a moment later with both her arms raised and peace signs on her hands. Smiles all around and quite a few cheers when they saw she was decked out in her ring gear - they didn't know what was about to happen, but they knew it would involve a match.

"Tokyoooooooooooooo!" She shouted out at the top of her lungs. Even if the people couldn't hear her, they could get the general gist.

There was a little disappointment as she made her way down the ring with just a simple walk and a swing in her hips - usually she came down dancing. But usually she wasn't coming fresh off a brutal house show match. She hated  not giving the fans everything they asked for, but she was going to need her body as close to 100% as she could get, especially if this went down like she hoped.

Valley slid in under the bottom rope, grabbed the microphone from the announcer, and sauntered on over to the middle of the ring while her music died. "Are you people ready for a show tonight?" Valley capped it off with a wink, as she started to circle around the ring. "Oh, you'll get it. But first, I want to answer a question. See, I'm an old-fashioned girl, and I only just recently caught up with the 21st century. Just a couple of weeks ago, I got my smartphone. First one. Got my Spotify, for all my tunes. Got my Twitter - follow me at TheLastSlamazon, by the way - and I started getting a few followers. One of those followers asked me what I thought was a very pertinent question: Why aren't you challenging for the title?"

The one drew a few cheers and a few boos as well, and Valley couldn't blame any of them. Very divisive issue, especially with everything going on with that title at the moment. She held up a finger, trying to get some order. "No, no, see, that is a good question. And I'm not saying any of this to brag, I'm just stating cold hard facts. When this year started, I promised to give you all the best matches I could possibly provide, and I have made good on that promise. While other women in this company have gotten wrapped up in petty disputes, I've focused on wrestling some of the best talent that Friction has to offer. Maybe not the main eventers, but the women with talent who don't get noticed behind all the flash. I've learned new moves. I've honed my style. I am not the same woman who lost to Akashi in five minutes last year, I'm not the same woman who Morrigan stripped, I'm not the same woman that Allison took out with a cheap shot - I am faster, more skilled, and all around better than any woman on this roster, and that is a statement I will happily back up, anytime! Nobody can do what I do, as well as I can do it!"

That got the crowd back together with a cheer. Maybe they didn't agree, but they appreciated the spirit, at least.

"Anyway," Valley spun around on her heel. "To answer the question, 'when does Valley Doll get her title shot?' I don't know. Maybe I haven't greased the right palms, maybe I don't hang in the right circles. That's fine, though, because what I do know is that, if you make enough noise? Eventually, someone will come and see what the ruckus is. So, let's make some noise, shall we?"

Valley stuck her hand out and pointed towards the entrance as the audience roared, staring hard at the ramp. "I'm three for three this year, and I'm still going strong. People say I'm getting old, that I should hang back. I say it's better to burn out than fade away! I'm at the top of my game and there's no one in this company who can stop me from finishing the year with a perfect sweep. If anyone in the back disagrees, here's your chance. Come out here and prove me wrong!"

There was silence for a time, the crowd wondering just who would accept the challenge, when a new theme began to play over the PA system, the crowd confused as to who it could belong too.


That question was answered quickly, as none other than Teddy Cat Hori, one of the original Wrestle Angels herself, stepped out onto the entrance ramp! While admittedly, the newer fans in the crowd, who had only known of AFW itself, remained confused as to who this girl could be, the Wrestle Angel Obsessed fans (which was basically any and all Wrestle Angel fans anyway) recognized the pink haired girl right away, especially when she turned to a section of the crowd, bent her wrists, made a fist, and used her hand like a cat paw, pawing at the crowd and making cute "Nya!" noises, to the cheers of those who recognized her.

Clad in her familiar, if very skimpy, ring gear, which added to fans recognition, as, aside from her extra height, and barely bigger muscles, she looked almost exactly the same as when she last competed, the name "Teddy Cat Hori" spreading among the crowd, the unknowing pulling out their i-phones to google her.

Entering the ring, she slid under the ropes, getting up to her knee's and pawing the air in Valley Doll's direction, letting out another "Nya!" sound before getting back to her feet and looking at the crowd, hands behind her head, fingers poking up like kitty ears as she giggled, enjoying engaging in her old gimmick again, the crowds cheers calming her earlier worries that there wouldn't be any Wrestle Angel fans in the crowd.

Grabbing a microphone, she smiled at the waiting blonde before speaking.

"Hey there! For those of you who don't already know, I'm Teddy Cat Hori-Nya!"

She said, electing another cheer from certain sections of the crowd, who were either legit old fans of her and WA, or if nothing else, just younger fans who had poured over the old footage.

"For a little history lesson for those who don't know, back when Wrestle Angels started up, not long before AFW started itself, I was one of the ORIGNAL Angels, fighting against the likes of Mighty Yukiko and Bomber Kirishima! I left after a couple years, but I made an impact, and I'm flattered to see people remember this young cat loving girl-Nya!"

She continued to address the crowd, holding up a small finger to Valley, asking for a minute.

"So just for the fast version, I retired from Wrestle Angels six years ago...got married...got divorced...became a bit of a fat cat around the house-Nya."

"But that got so boring, and I started really getting that itch to compete again. So for the last two years, this kitty has sharpened her claws, training and getting in better shape than before, I even grew a little! Now I'm back, and while I was sad to find that Wrestle Angels has fallen, it made me really happy to find that AFW has been willing to bring in so many of us former Angels, and that our fans have followed us after all this time-Nya!"

Finally, she turned back to Valley Doll, the half-japanese, half-american, girl offering her a polite nod, as a small thanks for letting her talk.

"So uh...Miss..."Doll" right? I saw a couple of your matches with that Silver Ace girl when I was studying AFW tapes. You seem really good to me, and it was so cute when you and that young girl did that skit last summer-Nya!

I know this is unexpected, but since this is my first night back, I was planning on making an open challenge myself...but since you made one first, any chance I could accept yours-Nya?"

She asked, adding her signature cute mrow sound at the end of her sentences, awaiting Valley Dolls answer. Granted, she knew very little about the Doll, except for the matches she had seen, but she was still so excited, she hoped she'd accept!

Oh, boy.

About five seconds after Valley made the challenge, the implications of what she'd asked really started to weigh down on her. This wasn't quite like issuing a call-out with the Slamazons, where she only had forty or so wrestlers to worry about, half of whom would already have matches that night. No, the AFW had hundreds of girls to choose from, and many of them weren't exactly what Valley would consider to be 'serious wrestlers'. AFW had a lot of talent, but it had more than its fair share of people who rarely, if ever, wrestled, and weren’t all that impressive when they did.

She kept her smile up, but there was a growing sense of trepidation in the back of her mind, and it all came spilling out when she learned who her opponent would be: Teddy Cat Hori.

”Really?” Valley had a quick twitch and muttered under her breath, trying to downplay her disappointment. She vaguely - vaguely - remembered Teddy from her Wrestle Angel run, and if it hadn’t been for the sound of her voice, she might not have been able to place her at all. She was looking in decent shape, at least, and she was certainly a step up from, say, a kawaii wrestler or some horny facesitting dom, but still…Teddy Cat Hori. Of all the wrestlers who could’ve walked down that ramp, she had to get one who was probably covered in ring rust and had a lame cat gimmick.

She perked up when Teddy finished speaking and forced a smile, trying hard to look more enthusiastic than she was. Really, really trying. ”You sure you want to do this?" Valley looked Teddy over."I mean, I'm game, but you've been out of the game awhile. Maybe you want to start off a little slower..."

Valley winced as the boos came her way. Yup, should've expected it.

Well that was to be expected. Nobody liked having to deal with the new girl. While the gym she worked at had a ring, and she HAD tried to spend the last year getting in it with various paid sparring partners to try and shake off ring rust, there was no denying she'd still be at a disadvantage.

"No way! I know what you're thinking, but don't let the purring and this cute outfit fool ya, I still know how to kick some butt-Nya!"

Teddy replied, getting a cheer in response from the WA fans, though the rest remained neutral, wanting to see how this played out.

"Cmon Valley, give this kitty a shot and see how soon you get clawed-Nya!"

Teddy continued, dropping the microphone after and stretching her arms and legs, making sure she was good and limber, hoping the blonde accepted her challenge. She may have been nervous, but it had to be this way. She couldn't just accept coming back against some nobody rookie. No, if she REALLY still had it, the cat lover would have to face somebody with real talent, and Valley Doll had been proving herself a tough member of the mid card. A perfect test.

Valley didn't much care what Teddy said. The purring and the cute outfit were not good signs.

She kept the smile up, but she couldn't surpress a deep sigh. That was the Japanese for you. Skilled, honorable opponents, steeped in tradition, the heart of the wrestling world...but they could be really weird, sometimes.

[color=#ff0080]"Do you really have to keep doing the 'nya' thing?" She whispered quick with her hand over the microphone, then stepped back with her hand raised high. The crowd was starting a slow but steady 'Teddy' chant, so she had a good idea where their opinion was. Might as well tap it.

"You guys are hot for it, huh?"

"Wrestle! Wrestle! Wrestle!"

"All right," She brought her hand down and turned back to Teddy with a smirk. Even if she wasn't down on the inside, she'd maintain on the out. "You got it!"

The crowd cheered as Valley handed the microphone back to the announcer and made her way over to the corner. She grabbed the top rope and pulled it back for a little light stretching, as the referee started to make her way down to the ring...

"Nya"

Was Teddy's whispered reply, before she gave the microphone back and played to the crowd, using her fingers as cat ears and getting some cheers in response. She didn't really care if Valley or others didn't like the cat gimmick. It was just for fun anyway, and the crowd liked it, so what did it matter?

When the referee finally entered the ring, Teddy walked right to the center of it, arms up.

"You're an old school gal right? Start off the traditional way and all that-Nya?"