Julia Rogers vs. Valley Doll - Light Up the Sky

Valley Doll hung around the gorilla position, dressed in her ring gear, hopping from foot to foot. On her face was a look that could only be described as being akin to a small child in the middle of candy store with a blank check in her hands. She hadn’t been this hyped for a match since...well, her Iron Woman match at Avalanche, really. But this came close. A match against Julia Rodgers.

She was a lucky, lucky woman.

Last year was a great time for. She came in at the start, worked hard, managed to make some real waves by winning five matches in a row. It hadn’t been easy, but she’d gone from being a woman the audience didn’t want to see to someone they looked forward to, and a constant fixture on the highlight reel. It wasn’t perfect - she was still fairly far from the main event scene. But the promised land was in view. It looked attainable. She just had to keep on rising, and the best way to do that was by fighting newer, tougher opponents. And they didn’t get much newer and tougher than Julia Rodgers, the former Entropy Champion. If she could pass this test, it was only a matter of time before a title shot would come her way. On top of all that, it was going to be fun. Real fun. Valley didn’t get to fight other high-flyers nearly enough for her tastes.

One of the stagehands poked his head through the curtain and gave her the thumbs up. Showtime. Yes. Yes. She was ready.

Pat Benetar’s Heartbreaker came blasting out, and the packed Friction crowd rose to their feet, knowing what would come next. Sure enough, Valley Doll came bounding out of the back, full of energy, smiling and waving as the audience cheered her on.

”Tokyo!” She cupped her hands around her mouth and threw her voice all the way to the cheap seats. ”Are you ready to fly?!”

The crowd screamed back, showed their love, and with that cue she was off like a shot towards the rings. Valley dashed all the way down to the ring and hopped on the apron, bouncing her head to the music. She grabbed the top, gave it a sharp tug, and went flying into the ring with a slingshot maneuver, landing in the middle of the ring. She did a quick somersault, popped up to her feet and skipped over to the corner. She leaped on the middle rope and raised her arms to the crowd, singing along with the chorus.

”You’re a heartbreaker!
Dreammaker! 
Lovetaker! 
Don’t you mess around with me!”

Valley did a backflip off the turnbuckle, sticking the landing with ease, and turning to face the entrance as her music died down. She leaned forward with her hands on her knees, a wild smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes. Almost time, now. She could feel it in her bones - this would be something special.

Julia took several deep breaths as she paced around in the locker room. Dressed in her usual ring gear, the luchadora took some time to stretch her arms out, though she’d gotten herself nice and limber several minutes ago. Now she was working off a serious case of pre-match jitters. This wasn’t Avalanche, SummerSplash, or even any other pay-per-view for that matter. Still, tonight’s bout was poised to be quite possibly one of the biggest and best matches of the young blonde’s career, if not the best!

Though she’d only met the girl in person on one occasion, Valley Doll was a wrestler who carried quite a bit of significance to Julia. While the dojo trainee had been battling with everything she had for the Entropy Championship months ago despite the negative perception many had of the division, not everyone saw the same potential and importance in that title that Julia did. But Valley was one of those few. Despite not having been one of the women competing for the title at that time, Valley Doll had been a key spokeswoman for the Entropy division in a time when it really needed support. And on top of that, she’d had a hell of a year, putting on excellent matches and consistently getting big wins to add lots of credibility to her words. Julia had very much wanted to fight Valley Doll for the title one day, but alas she hadn’t been able to hold onto that belt long enough to make that dream come to fruition.

But title or no title, tonight was unquestionably a big one for the Entropy Division. Technically Julia was a former holder of the title, though she didn’t see herself as the former champ. In her mind, at best she’d been a half-champion, or an interim champion. But she hadn’t been the sole, independent holder of the title, which to her was one of the key parts of the very definition of a champion. But a win tonight could be monumental in bringing her back up through the ranks, possibly with a chance to really become the Entropy Champion somewhere down the line. And naturally, just as much was at stake tonight for her opponent. This was going to be one hell of a clash of wills tonight!

When a stagehand opened the door to let Julia know it was time, she nodded and took another deep breath while walking through the backstage area. Modern Day Cowboy by Tesla started playing right as she approached the curtain, which she stopped directly behind for a few moments. The spotlight shined on the curtain, displaying a silhouette of Julia to all those watching in the arena for several seconds before the cowgirl finally burst through it with a bright smile on her face. “LET’S MAKE SOME NOISE!!!!” she shouted at the top of her lungs while the crowd burst into thunderous cheers.

“That’s what I’m talkin’ ‘bout!” Julia said before quickly walking down the ramp, high-fiving as many fans as she could along the way until she was close to the ring. The luchadora ran a few steps and leapt up onto the apron and scurried up to the top rope of the nearest corner, then held her hands up high with her index fingers pointed straight up at the rafters. “WHAT’S UP, TOKYO?!?!” she called out, inciting yet another massive wave of cheers. More than satisfied with their unanimous answer, she nodded and gripped the top ropes before pushing herself up into a perfect handstand over the top turnbuckle, then pushed off into a perfect landing right on her feet in the ring. And with a bright grin, she turned to face Valley. “Lets give these people somethin’ special.” she said with a nod toward her foe, right before the bell rang.

Normally, this would be the point where Julia started rallying the crowd to chant. But as she started raising a hand to do so, she didn’t even get all the way up before the room was already echoing with a deafening mix of “JU-LI-A! JU-LI-A! JU-LI-A!” and “VAL-LEY-DOLL! VAL-LEY-DOLL! VAL-LEY-DOLL!” Julia looked at one section of the crowd, then another, and it seemed like every soul in the arena was getting in on what seemed to be a 50/50 split! She smiled and nodded her head along to the rhythm of the claps and chants for a moment, then stepped toward the middle of the ring and extended her right hand to offer a handshake. They’d get to tearing each other apart soon enough, but this showing of respect and sportsmanship first was more than necessary in her eyes.

There were many, many reasons why Valley had become a Julia Rodgers fan from the first time she saw her in action. The style, the hair, the mask, the moves, the attitude. But she especially loved what she saw as she hopped up on the turnbuckle and took a seat, trying to get the best view she could from the ring. Julia, like herself, knew the value of making a good entrance. So many wrestlers in the AFW just came out to whatever move they liked, walked down to the ring and did their thing. Not her and certainly not Julia. They were getting the crowd electrified from minute one, and she aimed to keep it that way.

Valley sang along as her opponent made her way down to the ring, swaying a bit to the music. It had been a while since she’d heard Tesla, but she knew the words well enough. ”Bang, bang…shoot ‘em up...”

She gave Julia a quick clap as she made her way into the ring in grand style, and Valley hopped off the turnbuckle a moment later, feeling more giddier than a kid on Christmas. Valley was ready to wrestle, to fight, to fly. But before they did, there was a little ceremony to take care of.

”Hope you're ready for me, cowgirl.” She accepted Julia’s gesture and gave her a hardy shake, earning a fresh round of applause from the appreciative crowd. They wanted a fair, even contest, and they’d get it. ”Because I’m coming your way with everything I’ve got.”

Valley stepped away and crouched, looking ready to pounce as the referee made her way into the ring. Her eyes stayed locked on Julia, as if she were taking in every single movement she made, every single detail, and analyzing it with a supercomputer’s accuracy.

“Right back at ya, partner.” Julia replied as they shook hands before backing into her corner again. She crouched down and reached out with her hands to grip onto the middle ropes at either side of her, staring a hole right through Valley Doll across the ring. Her foe looked like she wanted to rush right into the heat of battle right off the bat, and it was no different for Julia. For a brief moment, it made the cowgirl recall one of her earliest matches in Mexico...

It had been soon after her debut, her third or fourth match if she remembered correctly. Julia had been pitted against another luchador with lightning-quick speed, and made the mistake of going in with the gameplan of conserving her energy and letting her foe tire herself out. Instead, Julia ended up eating more moves in a minute than her mind could even keep up with, resulting in her getting her ass handed to her on a silver platter in quick and embarrassing fashion. But she’d learned a valuable lesson that day: In matches between speedy fliers it’s not necessarily who conserves their energy best who comes out on top, but who uses it best. Even without Valley telling her, the cowgirl was already aware her foe would be coming at her full speed tonight. For Julia to stand a chance, she had to do the same, and do it better.

After this final staredown across the ring between the two combatants it was time to get to work. Julia darted to her right like a bullet out of a gun, dropping down to slide on a knee as she curved around to the side. She was circling Valley and looking for a chance to lunge in and lock horns with her, but there would be no patient sidestepping around the ring tonight. Everything had to be at max speed, and she was fully expecting Valley’s movements to be every bit as quick. In a matter of seconds the audience was going to have a hard time keeping track of who had started in which corner, where they’d gone to get where the now were, or where they’d be going next. This was going to be quite an interesting spectacle...

To the surprise of absolutely no one at all, this match between two of the fastest wrestlers in the AFW started off with a bang. Julia took off at bullet speed and Valley was right behind her, with the two of them moving in tandem as they circled around the ring. A white blur circled around with an orange one, rapid steps, the two blondes moving at a pace that most of their peers couldn't dream of matching.

The whole time, Valley stayed locked in one Julia with laser-focus, like her eyes were physically tethered to the cowgirl’s every movement. She knew the ring like the back of her hand, the referee would stay out of her way, and the crowd was a non-issue. Until the final bell rang, Julia Rodgers was the only other thing in the known universe.

To a casual observer, it might have looked like they were just lapping the ring, but Valley was moving a little bit further in with every step she took, getting into her lunging range. Timing, distance, speed, all of it had to be just right, before...

There.

Valley lunged out the moment she got into range, breaking out of the circle in mid-stride. She raised her arms as she closed in and and tried to get Julia into a clasic lockup, though they’d probably move away from tradition in just a couple of seconds.

In a flash the two were flying around the ring at near-blinding speeds, each with their eyes firmly locked onto the other. Neither could afford to blink, not at the pace this fight was going to be fought. One mistake could be fatal, which meant every last move had to be executed both as quickly and precisely as possible. Normally not the easiest combination of qualities to manage, but if anyone could pull it off, it was Julia Rogers and Valley Doll.

The luchadora gradually inched in a bit further as Valley did, then almost simultaneously bolted forth at her foe with arms extended for a lockup! The two clashed in the ring, arms and foreheads pushing against each other as if trying to drive their foe back as far as possible, though that effort would end about as quickly as it began.

Before either woman had time to make any progress in a test of strength, Julia quickly shifted an arm under one of Valley’s, then dropped down and twisted her body in an attempt to send her foe down with an arm drag. Though naturally, such a move wouldn’t keep Valley down for long, maybe a split second at most. So immediately Julia kicked her legs up and out to kip up right back to her feet to ready herself so she could be ready to dash right back into the fray again.

The two speed demonesses crashed in the middle of the ring, and Valley was immediately glad that she’d paid a little extra for the traction ridges on her new shoes. They didn’t stay locked for long, but it was enough to establish how even their strength was - Julia might have been a touch over in terms of muscle, but it was a small enough difference that she couldn’t imagine it factoring into things.

For now, her focus was getting out of this in a quick way that gave her an advantage. An arm drag would work wonders, there, so Valley started to pull back and-

”Oop!” It seemed like Julia had the same idea, only a half second early than Valley did. The Slamazon was sent flying head over heels, as her opponent scored the first move of the match.

But it was nothing Valley hadn’t take a thousands times a thousand times over. She quickly rolled to her feet and popped back up, turning around just as Julia did her kip up. Back on the attack.

She tried something a little more direct this time and closed in, shooting her leg up from the front with a low snap kick, tailor made to sink into Julia’s stomach.

Tests of strength were rarely something Julia made any attempts at all to engage in. Maybe there were some people around she could overpower. It wasn’t like she was weak, by any means. But quickness was the name of her game, and the luchadora was confident she could match just about anyone in that regard. Valley was undoubtedly going to be the biggest challenge to that self-assertion to date, but Julia felt entirely up to facing that challenge.

The arm drag went off quickly and in the blink of an eye, toppling the Slamazon a few feet away from Julia. She sprung up, and just as predicted Valley was already up too and coming right at her. A boot was thrown up right at the cowgirl’s stomach, only to be stopped less than an inch away when Julia caught it in her hands.

When you catch a high flyer’s leg, the last thing you ever want to do is hold onto it for more than a second, and even that could often be too long. If you didn’t react immediately, chances were you’d be eating an enziguri right to the side of the skull. Nothing Julia was too crazy about letting happen, having delivered god only knows how many of those herself. So right after her hands prevented Valley’s foot from hitting her stomach, she threw the leg to the side with as much strength as she could, hoping to put Valley off balance just for the briefest of moments.

Valley’s kick would have hit about 95% of the women in the AFW. It was swift. It was quick. It was a professional strike that had come from years of honing her skills, and while it didn’t have much power behind it, it was a great way to set up better moves. She’d used it as her opener for more moves than she could count.

But Julia was part of the 5% that could see the kick coming and actually do something about it. Valley half-expected she might, too, but she thought she would have time to counter with an enziguiri. This turned out to be wrong, as her leg was tossed away before she had the chance.

A good counter. One that would’ve also worked on about 95% of the women in the AFW, too. But Valley was part of a special 5% as well: the ones who could do a dragon whip.

Instead of fighting against the momentum, she rolled with it, brought her leg around full circle and swung it towards Julia’s head, executing the move in grand style.

Julia hurled Valley’s leg to the side with all her might, and for the briefest moments it seemed she had seemed to upset the Slamazon’s balance just as she’d intended. The cowgirl was just about to attempt to take advantage of that until she noticed one very important little detail: Valley wasn’t off balance, but was using her leg’s momentum to keep spinning.

With only a split second to react, the luchadora dropped down onto her front with her palms flat on the mat, essentially in a pushup stance just in time to avoid having her head rocked by Valley’s boot. But avoiding the dragon whip didn’t mean she was out of the woods yet. The Slamazon was still right in front of her and firing on all cylinders, which meant Julia had to keep moving too.

She quickly brought her legs up and sprang back to her feet. And as Julia came up she pushed with her legs again to leap into the air, then sent both her cowgirl boots forward and aimed them right at where she hoped Valley’s chest would be for a dropkick attempt.