Kimmy Colton vs. Claire Devantier: Claire's Debut!

Standard Match

Win by Pinfall, Submission, or Knockout

Spoiler:

Kimmy Colton had faced two opponents in her short time as an AFW wrestler: Valley Doll and Ayaka Kurata. The former was an inspiration to Kimmy, a veteran whose expertise and charm Kimmy respected and envied, and like whom Kimmy aspired to be as she continued to pursue her AFW career. The latter was a more bitter foe and a greater thorn in Kimmy's side than the blonde girl from Brooklyn could have ever imagined. After a couple of unfortunate encounters with the Japanese street fighter, Kimmy needed to get back into the game and remind herself that not every opponent she faced was going to be like that. Her first match wasn't a flash in the pan. Things should get better after that Ayaka. Things usually got better whenever she had a bad match at New York Female Wrestling. Why shouldn't they get better here in Tokyo?

She knew next to nothing about the girl that she was facing tonight: Claire "Deviant" Devantier. She was totally new to the world of AFW, and didn't seem to have too much wrestling experience, at least not wrestling experience catalogued anywhere that Kimmy could find. The girl was French, apparently, a nationality which was somewhat surprisingly not so well-represented on the AFW roster. Kimmy had never really heard about any professional wrestling leagues in France, so she supposed it made sense that a French girl would come to AFW to begin her career rather than starting in a local league like Kimmy had. The abundance of local leagues in New York City was probably not mirrored in Paris.

Kimmy appeared at the top of the ramp as her entrance music, "Don't Slow Down," began to play over the loudspeakers surrounding the perimeter of the arena. Though this was her third match, she was far from a veteran, and far from headlining an AFW event. Still, the crowd gave her a warm welcome all the same. Kimmy, though she always felt awkward playing to the audience, would try to smile—though it came out as more of an awkward, lopsided smirk—and give them a wave as she made her way swiftly down to the ring. Grabbing the bottom rope, Kimmy would roll underneath it and then pop back up onto her feet, swinging her arms to loosen them up and kicking her legs for a similar purpose. As she found her way to her corner, she glanced from the girl in the striped shirt who would be serving as referee, down to the scorekeeper's table, and then back up to the ramp.

She was looking forward to getting her first look at this Claire Devantier. And, in her head, she was working out what she would say to the girl. Valley Doll had been incredibly encouraging when Kimmy had debuted, and she wanted to be the same way with the rookies that she faced, even if she couldn't be quite so theatrical in welcoming them as Valley had been for her. What Kimmy didn't want was to get herself worked up over something minor and spoil any positive vibes she and her opponent might have.

It had happened before, and Kimmy feared it could all too easily happen again...

She took a deep breath and shook her head. It wasn't going to happen tonight! Kimmy was going to be a good veteran and welcome her French foe to AFW right.

Spoiler:

Claire meanwhile waited quite nervously for her cue, having never performed in front of an audience so large in her life, she was quite intimidated upon hearing the noise eminating from the arena during her opponent's entrance. She looked down at her rather simple bikini outfit, paranoid that a part of it might not be worn correctly or in the correct spot. Having no experience outside of some simple training didnt help her nerves much at all, thoughts of embarrassing herself by messing something up or accidentally causing permanent injury to her opponent rushed through her head. The red-headed French girl brushed a hand through her hair and shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts, rubbing her gloved hands together vigorously following this.

She didnt know much about her opponent either, only being able to recall finding her first name a little strange. 'Kimmy', sounding almost like a nickname to her, but still resounding through her head as the name of her first ever opponent. Half-way through her thought, she heard her name being announced loudly over the speakers in place of entrance music that she hadnt quite yet decided on. She took a deep breath and walked out into the arena, putting on a confident and friendly facade as she made her way down towards the ring, eyes fixed on Kimmy who was already standing in the ring awaiting her. She approached and energetically bounced her way up and over the ropes, having found the atmosphere to be quite different to what she was expecting, she stood opposite her opponent with a smile.

Kimmy was expecting her opponent's entrance music to start playing any moment now, as she did some stretches in her corner to limber up for the fight. No music started playing. Instead, a loud announcement came on over the speakers instead: a simple introduction, asking the audience to welcome Claire "Deviant" Devantier. The audience would do so, applauding loudly for the new wrestler, and Kimmy, as she saw the French girl emerge from backstage, would begin to applaud as well, trying to keep a smile on her face and be as welcoming as she could be to the rookie.

As Claire made it down to the ring and climbed up into it, however, Kimmy was suddenly struck by the realization that the girl's costume was not quite as...traditional as Kimmy's was. In comparison to Kimmy's athletic gear, Claire's attire was...well, it was sexy. Is it...is it because she's French? Kimmy would ask herself, as she would try to keep her face expressionless now, not really wanting to give away what she was thinking. She kept her eyes on Claire's eyes, staring her opponent down in a manner which she hoped wasn't too threatening. Still, when she glanced down at the corset-laced top, elbow gloves, and thighhighs that her soon-to-be opponent was wearing, her face got a little bit red. She was embarrassed.

They love all that h...sexy wrestling here, Kimmy would think to herself. Figures they would try to embarrass me by putting me up against someone who does...that kind of thing. She wiped at her face with her hand, but then brought it down, feeling awkward as the referee then called for them to step into the center of the ring.

"This is a standard rules match," the referee would explain. "No strikes below the belt, break a hold when your opponent grabs the ropes..."

She went on in that vein for a while longer, as Kimmy would keep her eyes on Claire's eyes, locking her with a steely gaze, until the referee instructed them to shake hands. Kimmy hesitated for a second, then reached forward with her right hand, and managed to put a small smile back on her face. "Kimmy Colton," she would say by way of introducing herself. "You ready for this?"

Claire returned the smile to her opponent as she made her way down in a friendly way, her mind relaxed slightly as she received the impression that her opponent wasnt intent on completely murdering her. Upon climbing into the ring, she began to subtly examine her opponent's outfit at about the same time Kimmy looks her over. She thinks to herself Plain... Sorta... But it looks good. before her eyes darted quickly down at what she herself was wearing, and then back up to meet her opponent's gaze, her paranoid thoughts from earlier returning: Am I dressed right? does this outfit work? how do I look?, her cheeks reddening lightly.

Her focus returned to her opponent as Kimmy raised her hand up and then back down again, her eyes met her opponent's gaze once more, feeling a little awkward at how silent the two had been thus far. Her eyes turned to the referee as the rules were explained to the two girls, her arms drifted loosely at her sides. Her rather friendly stare returning to meet Kimmy's as the two were instructed to shake hands, Claire reached out with her left to meet her opponent's right hand and took hold, a smile on her face to match Kimmy's. "Uh- Claire Devantiere", she replied in her peculiar accent, followed by a nod at Kimmy's question.

The French girl's face was red, too, and Kimmy wondered whether she had misjudged this girl's intentions. Maybe she was just dressed this way because she was French, not because she was one of those...sexy wrestlers. Of course, maybe she was just red-faced from excitement, this being her first match and all. Maybe she wasn't used to performing in front of a crowd. Kimmy supposed she couldn't guess what Claire's intentions were or what was going on inside her mind unless she asked her.

And, of course, Kimmy wasn't going to ask her opponent about something like that. Don't be stupid, Kimmy, she would think, admonishing herself as she lifted a hand and her opponent shook it. The handshake was a bit awkward, as Claire reached out with her left hand rather than her right, making it seem more like they were holding hands than shaking hands. Kimmy would ignore that. This girl didn't seem like a bad girl at all. Even if she was that kind of wrestler, why should Kimmy care? She thought back to a conversation she had on Skype a few weeks earlier with her friend Al...

Kimmy brought her other hand up to grasp Claire's hand in between both of hers, the way a lot of the Japanese wrestlers did it. She listened to the girl say her own name in that think French accent, and then merely nod at Kimmy's question. The blonde Brooklynite would nod back at Claire. "Okay. Hope it's a good one, right?" she would say, before letting go of the red-haired girl's hand and backing up towards her corner, looking from Claire to the referee as she prepared herself for the bell to ring.

Claire looked into Kimmy's eyes quite curiously as her opponent seemed to stare for a while. She blinked rapidly a few times to bring her focus back to reality, turning bright red as she realised she had messed up the handshake. "Oh. Sorry" she whispered in an apologetic tone, before looking down at their linked hands for a second and awkwardly trying to swap with her right just as Kimmy clasped her other hand around, resulting in both of her hands being trapped between the American girl's own.

She gave a smile and another nod at Kimmy's final question, the French girl backed away to the opposite side of the ring almost at the same time as her opponent. Her heart started to beat faster as she waited for the bell, she had to lean back very slightly to keep herself from shivering with nerves, her gaze remaining fixed on Kimmy. Calm down., She thought to herself, It'll be fun.

Claire seemed to be a nice girl, though she also seemed to lack some confidence. Kimmy wondered how long the French fighter had been training for this, her debut in a wrestling match. She hoped that Claire could muster up enough energy to make it interesting. The Brooklyn Bruiser did not intend to go easy on her foe, even if this was her first time and even if she was a little nervous. Kimmy was the sort of wrestler who always went full throttle. She took one more deep breath before the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the fight.

Kimmy, light on her feet, would come out of her corner quickly, but would not head directly for Claire in the center of the ring. She began to move slightly to her right, bouncing a little on her toes as she shuffled around her opponent in a slow circle. She had her hands up, ready to engage Claire, or to defend herself against any sort of surprise attack that the French girl might be readying, but, unless Kimmy was mistaken, the redhead was not going to try anything like that. Despite her...audacious attire, Claire seemed like a more reactionary sort of wrestler, someone who would try to rely on her opponents making mistakes and exploiting them rather than taking too many risks herself.

Kimmy would just have to see if her assessment of Claire's likely strategy was going to be accurate or not.

Kimmy began to creep closer to her opponent, the circle she was traveling in becoming smaller and smaller. As she approached Claire, Kimmy would begin to raise her hands, wanting to offer the girl an opportunity to lock up and grapple. It was a good way to start any match, and Kimmy felt confident that she would be able to out-muscle Claire in any sort of test of strength.

Once the sound of the bell reached Claire's ears, she moved into stance by putting one foot out slightly ahead of her and brought her arms up in front of her chest. Mimicking Kimmy, she moved in slow circles with her gaze locked on her opponent's eyes. Her movements werent quite as wide as Kimmy's, seemingly intending just to close distance cautiously. She seemed to have overcome her nerves, or (the more likely scenario) had put on a facade to make herself seem more like she knows what she's doing.

Claire didnt intend to fight in a passive manner as her opponent had expected, her movements seeming more aggressive and erratic as she grew closer to Kimmy. She almost jumped back upon seeing Kimmy raise her hands, not quite expecting what she got. She realised what Kimmy intended after a quick moment, she moved in to accept the lockup and gripped onto her opponent's hands. She didnt expect to beat Kimmy in such a test, but thought it'd give her a good idea of what she was going up against, assuming she was able to get out of it when she decided it necessary.

She herself was rather expecting Kimmy to go on the offense as soon as she was given the chance, something she picked up from studying the girl's facial expression and stance. Not to mention her opponent's nickname, 'Brooklyn Bruiser', to her it seemed to imply aggression. An implication she'd likely soon find to be true.

Something actually seemed to come over Claire once the bell rang and the two of them put their hands up and began to circle around each other. She was certainly moving around faster than she had been. More than that, there was a spring in her step. She wasn't just meekly preparing for Kimmy to come after her, but was stepping lively about, occasionally making a sudden, subtle move that the Brooklynite was not expecting her to make. Once or twice, her erratic and aggressive motion caused Kimmy to flinch, getting ready to react to some sort of surprise attack.

That attack never came, but it left Kimmy a little nervous. Her opponent's attire had already given her an idea of the sort of wrestler this French girl might be. If Claire was a good enough actor, she certainly could have been lulling Kimmy into a false sense of security, letting the American girl drop her guard before moving in and attacking her with...whatever sort of attacks she had up her sleeve.

Ultimately, Claire didn't attack Kimmy before Kimmy got close enough to offer her the chance to lock up. And, when it was offered, the cute French girl accepted it. The Brooklyn girl, being two inches shorter than her French foe, reached up slightly to slide her fingers together with those of the other girl. She felt the smooth fabric of Claire's gloves, and couldn't help but glance down again at her opponent's attire. She had on what were virtually...panties, and her top laced up like a corset. "Hmmph," Kimmy would grunt, as she would push her palms against Claire's and begin pushing against her, only going about half-strength for the time being, waiting to see how strong Claire would prove to be.

Letting off a smirk as she managed to cause her opponent to flinch a few times, Claire locked hands with the girl. She noticed Kimmy's eyes drift downwards to once more observe her not-so-modest outfit, causing her cheeks to redden slightly and eyes to widen. She personally didnt realise her outfit was anything special until now, a thought that was somewhat reinforced when she first set her eyes upon her opponent's rather tight purple and white shorts and sports bra.

Despite being the taller of the two, the French girl also happened to be the weaker physically. As such, when Kimmy began pushing, Claire found herself having to put in more effort than her opponent to break even. Neither girl gained much ground for a moment or two until Claire put one foot back to strengthen her stance with the hope of breaking the stalemate, she pushed hard against Kimmy's hands, putting in as much energy as she could muster up, and becoming determined to force her American opponent back. A noise escaped her mouth that one would expect from the strain, "Nnngh!"

While she did seem rather confident and cocky on the outside, it was indeed merely an illusion. Intended rather obviously to make her seem stronger than she was, and to make it seem as if she had a plan. Internally, her heart was beating lightning-quick, both with nerves and excitement at actually being in a real match in front of a real audience. Whether she ultimately won or lost, she was quite sure she would enjoy the battle regardless.