Kyoko Akan vs Rachel Carin

Match Type: Hardcore KO match: weapons are legal and scattered across the ring, the first person to render their opponent unconscious and unresponsive wins.

Kyoko's music played as the fans began cheering and booing respectively as she made her appearance at the entrance. Kyoko did her regular strut down to the ring slowly and confidently. Although she had never been in this kind of match before she wasn't afraid and wanted to let everyone know it as she entered the ring.

Kyoko had done some research on her opponent as usual, she didn't have much on her about before she came here so Kyoko wasn't really sure just who she was facing. The only thing she had really been told about her is that she can some hits, giving her the Ife that she might be a tough opponent to put down but nevertheless Kyoko was confident she would succeed.

The fact that Rachel was back in the ring after what she had been through could be considered a miracle, or insanity, depending on who you asked. The fact that she started with a KO only, no-holds-barred match (partially thanks to her new manager, Lily Belle) was completely ludicrous. But for Rachel, it all lined up perfectly. She was done being the nice girl, the pushover. Her chances of winning a standard, good-natured match with a technical pinfall or a submission were almost zero... but beating someone over the head with a chair until they stopped moving, that was something she understood.

At least, that was the image she built for herself. She even snuck in a pair of brass knuckles to make things a bit easier, and had her theme music changed to reflect this new attitude. She wanted to send a message, but really... she wasn't sure if she could back that message up. Sure, she had become a cornered animal after all she had been through, but beating someone senseless still wasn't part of her nature. And what all this amounted to was a nervous wreck backstage.

Still, she needed to do this. She needed to send a message to the woman who seemed determined to make her life a living hell, and, win or lose, she was prepared to become a rabid dog to do that. As the winding first notes of her theme played, she stormed towards the ring, her shoulders moving aggressively with each step. As she climbed into the ring, Rachel did her best to keep eye contact with her opponent, trying to hide her fear and concern behind a pair of raging eyes. "You ready to fucking do this?" she spat, partially out of genuine irritation and partially to keep up the image.

Kyoto watched her opponent come down to the ring with a purpose. Almost determined to show off something with each step, she certainly didn't look like much of a challenge but she seemed willing to prove her wrong. Then she looked her in the eye and Kyoko saw the anger, it didn't seem directed at her, not really anyway but it was definetly there along with..something else she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Her eyes widened at her voice, again full anger but it didn't seem to suit her opponent, like she was trying clothes too big to wear. She was definetly pissed at something but it was a mistake to take that anger here in the ring unless she wanted to lose focus. Kyoko would gladly show her that error. "Well Miss Rachel..it is Rachel isn't it? Anyway I don't know where you got pissed off but if you keep staring at me like that, their gonna turn black. Then again they may be like that anyway with this match." Kyoko said calmly, trying to sound unimpressed with her opponent.

What the hell was this? The one time Rachel is ready to put up the fight everyone seems to be asking for, and her opponent is telling her to calm down. A level of Rachel's fury cooled as confusion took it's place, unsure how to approach this situation. "Turn black? What are you-" but she stopped herself and tried to look tough again after shaking the confusion off. "Alright, whatever. Are you just gonna talk ore are we going to get this over with?" she asserted, raising her fists as the bell rang, unafraid to see her weapon openly brandished.

And at the ding of the starting bell, she ran in, pulling her arm back to swing her brass knuckles for Kyoko's face. If this was a knockouts only match, going for the head would be a good place to start, she figured.

Rachel seemed taken aback by her threat but not because she was intimidated by it rather she was confused by the context of said threat, nevertheless she quickly stopped her question and got right back into her threatening tone, although now she raised her hands, revealing a pair of brass knuckles that she must have brought with her.

Kyoko's first though was that she should have brought a weapon of her own, the second was she couldn't stay here or she was going to get her head taken off, as Rachel rushed her Kyoko would duck and go low to send a jab into Rachel's exposed belly.

Rachel's first, haphazard punch was a swing and a miss, Kyoko deftly moving right under and returning with a jab of her own and honestly, Rachel wasn't sure what she was expecting. It's not like being angrier made her suddenly know how to fight, after all. As Kyoko's knuckles sunk into Rachel's fleshy tummy, the smaller girl grunted painfully and her eyes shot wide, as she started to bend over around her opponent's fist, her own hands resting on Kyoko's shoulders. After a moment of coughing painfully, however, Rachel fruitlessly retaliated by banging her own fists on her opponent's back and shoulders, like a petulant child throwing a tantrum. It was an ineffective tactic and Rachel knew it, but with the distance between them closed this thoroughly she couldn't really ready up another punch.

Kyoto enjoyed the sound of her opponent, grunt almost as much as she enjoyed the sound of her fist hitting her belly. It was always satisfying to see her opponent crumble over fists. "Oh come on now, who shows off their abs and crumble unde the first punch, that's a mistake with me missy." Kyoko said tauntingly as Rachel switched tactics and began hitting her back and shoulders, which would have been more effective if she wasn't wearing her jacket still.

Still she could definetly feel the blows even if they didn't really hurt and Kyoko remembered the brass knuckles. Kyoko would send another punch into her opponents tummy and pull away to grab her hand, trying to pry off her knuckles and raise them above her head.

"Guh!" Rachel gasped as the second punch made it's way into her stomach, feeling as though it was already pushing deeper than the first. With her unarmed hand, Rachel brought a clothed arm to caress and protect her belly, when suddenly Kyoko stepped back and wrapped her fingers around Rachel's wrist. By the time Rachel had registered what was going on, it was too late to clench her fingers and the knuckles were pried from her fingers, held high above her opponent's head.

Her first instinct was to reach up and retrieve them, but even the few inches of height difference meant that Kyoko's fully extended arms would be able to reach higher than Rachel's. After she reached up with both hands, bouncing on her heels for extra height, she decided to change tactics. Assuming Kyoko didn't already exploit the opening she gave, Rachel would step back and lunge forward with her shoulder, trying to spear her taller opponent into the mat.

Kyoko felt like some schoolyard bully or punk older sibling holding some kids toy over her head knowing the cloud not reach. Rachel's first instinct wasn't to attack or go for another weapon, it was to go for the weapon out of her reach and in her opponents grasp. Kyoko rolled her eyes and kicked at Rachel's thighs to trip her or at least put her down to stop her effort.

"Listen for a second and maybe you'll get them back." Kyoko said. She placed her ands above her head and flexed her stomach. "You get a free shot and if you hit me hard enough that I bend over, you can have your stupid knuckles back." She xhallenged even though she figured Rachel had no chance of doing so she was indulging herself, having deduced that there was nothing she had up her sleeve for this match without them. As far as she was concerned this match was in the bag.

Being treated like a child was not on the top of Rachel's agenda for the day, especially given the change of image she was trying to pursue. How was she supposed to keep from being pushed around when her opponents were treating her like this? Still if Kyoko was going to give her a free shot, she was going to make sure that was a mistake.

Her initial reaction was a simple shoulder spear, but she had opted in for a hardcore match for a reason, and it seemed the AFW staff was more than happy to oblige this time. Rather than simply being found under the mat, various weapons were strewn across the ring, easily accessible and ready for use. Steel chairs, chains, tables and... an aluminum bat caught Rachel's attention, not too far from her foot where it was. She wasn't sure her opponent would take a move like this so willingly, though, so she had to move fast.

With that in mind, Rachel ducked down as fast as she could, grasping onto the bat and spinning around as she came up so that the base of the weapon landed square in the midsection of her opponent, roaring angrily as she did.