Jesse Rogers vs Alicia Wells

Standard Match
Victory Condition: Pinfall, Submission or Knockout

Spoiler:

Jesse Rogers stood in the locker room, dressed in a black sports bra matching tight shorts, with red gloves and black tape around her feet and ankles. Her fists were raised, and a determined expression was etched onto the blonde’s face as she fired several quick punches into the air, then bobbed and weaved before throwing a few more, as if her opponent tonight were standing right in front of her. Just a little bit of shadowboxing just to get her warmed up for her first match in AFW. She’d watched her younger sister thrive in the “big leagues” for over a year, but now it was her turn to give it a try.

“Ya ready, Jess?” said Julia, who was standing nearby in her mask, jeans and a Higurashi dojo t-shirt. Jesse nodded. “Always.” she replied. She’d never been much of a talker, but even still Julia could tell that, as confident as Jesse was, she was nervous. Though, that was to be expected. Tonight was a big deal. But on top of that, Jesse had been put in what on paper seemed could be an unfavorable matchup. Her opponent had only one professional bout. But Jesse knew her opponent was slightly taller, outweighed her by about 20 lbs., and was supposedly a well-trained mixed martial artist. That meant there was a big laundry list of things to be weary and careful of, something the rash and gutsy brawler wasn’t always good at. But, despite the pre-match butterflies in her stomach, she wasn’t scared. This was her moment, and she intended to make the most of it.

When a stagehand poked her head into the locker room to let them know it was time, Julia gave Jesse a pat on the back, then followed her sister down to the curtain. Moments after they arrived, Knock You Out by Y&T began to blare over the speakers of the Friction arena, and the Rogers sisters stepped out onto the stage. Though the crowd was unfamiliar with the debuting Jesse, they damn sure knew Julia, and thunderous cheers began to echo throughout the building. Julia smiled and waved to the fans, but Jesse was a focused fighting machine, and didn’t even seem to notice the crowd as she marched straight to the ring and rolled under the bottom rope to enter it. She made her way straight over to her corner, as did Julia from outside the ring, and stretched her limbs out while awaiting the arrival of her opponent.

From behind the curtain, Alicia took a last deep breath as the other wrestler’s theme music subsided, looking to supress the few butterflies of pre-match nervousness fluttering in her belly. It wasn’t even the crowd that worried her, it was the idea that this would be as much of a letdown as her first match.

But she didn’t have any time to spend on it before the lights beyond went dark and she was nudged out onto the stage to be greeted by the increasingly familiar sounds of Buck-Tick’s Nightmare. As it hit the vocals, that red spotlight cut through the darkness to illuminate her and Alicia cast a scathing glance around the arena at the fans before beginning her walk down to ringside.

She’d have preferred something simpler and more… traditional, particularly in terms of the music, but apparently rookies got stuck with the entrances Management liked and Management liked this one. Apparently, it suited her.

Like her opponent, the redhead wore a similar black sports bra and fitted shorts to what she’d worn for her debut but her fingerless gloves were just as black and she wore boots instead of foot wraps. She too strode down the ramp with her gaze fixed on the ring, neither looking to left or right, the boos of those fans who’d seen the ending of her match with Gallium Heart seeming to neither bother nor even interest her. Instead, her attention was solely and wholly on her opponent, that slasher’s smirk fully solidly in place. Even on first glance, this just looked so much more promising a match than her first one and, to put it bluntly, Alicia was looking forward with eager anticipation to seeing if she could live up to that promise.

Arriving at ringside, the kickboxer once again mirrored the blonde by rolling under the bottom rope and then rising to her feet. She still hadn’t paid any attention to the crowd, her purple eyes almost like a shark’s in the way they didn’t waver from Jesse as Alicia moved towards the centre of the ring. It was clear that those 20 pounds the redhead had over the blonde were almost all muscle and she had a slight height edge too, but it was a much more even match than her last. The other fighter looked like she knew what she was doing too, like one of the women Alicia had beaten in kickboxing or MMA before she’d joined Friction.

Awesome. This would be her sort of fight then.

As she’d done in her last match, she offered a hand for Jesse to shake before the fight began.

Jesse didn’t give any noticeable reaction when the lights went out, only for the red glow of the spotlight to illuminate the room seconds later. A tad flashy for her taste, but the kind of thing Julia was likely much more interested by. Regardless, the the debuting brawler remained still and kept her eyes firmly locked onto Alicia throughout her entrance until the woman was in the ring and staring her down.

Then she found herself with a curious decision to make as her opponent, a woman she knew very little about, offered a handshake. Jesse was a woman who was rarely quick to trust other people, especially when she knew they were going to be trying to beat the living shit out of each other in a matter of moments. Still, it was her first match in Japan, and so far she had nothing against Alicia. So maybe there was nothing wrong with a bit of sportsmanship.

She strode confidently out to meet Alicia in the middle of the ring, and kept her eyes focused right on the girl’s while shaking her hand. Jesse didn’t intend to sustain it for long, maybe a second at most, and didn’t utter a single word in the process. Julia clapped outside the ring in approval of the sign of sportsmanship, as did the crowd. But Jesse hardly cared about that. She was just eager to get this show on the road.

Alicia’s gaze didn’t leave Jesse’s for an instant either, the two strikers sizing each other up in the moments before the fight actually started. Certainly as far as the redhead was concerned, there might as well have just been the two of them there. She was aware of the cheering of the crowd but it didn’t really register as anything more than a distant rumble any more. Her focus was entirely on the blonde as she took her hand, at which Alicia offered her a slight, more genuine grin, though she still didn’t say a word.

There didn’t seem to be much to say.

The handshake only lasted for a moment and Alicia didn’t try and prolong it beyond that. Instead, she gave Jesse’s hand a firm shake then released and backed up into her corner, her eyes still fixed on her opponent. Leaning against the turnbuckle, she tugged unconsciously at her gloves, making sure they were secure, as she considered how to go about this.

She’d need to play this one a bit differently.

Still, when the bell rang, Alicia was out of her corner as quickly as ever as she looked to close the distance. Once she was in range, she meant to lead with a pair of feinted punches before going for the ever reliable kick to the knee.

Jesse didn’t give the crowd or her sister any more attention than Alicia did, and her gaze remain locked with the redhead’s. The grin didn’t intimidate or discourage her, nor did she bother disturbing the silence between them. It seemed both women were equally content to launch into this war without even the slightest bit the unnecessary banter Jesse cared so little for.

When the handshake was over and both women backed up, a small wave of relief washed over Julia on the outside, glad Alicia hadn’t tried to take advantage of the moment to throw a cheap shot of some sort. She hated being so suspicious of someone she didn’t even know, but in this business there were plenty who would’ve done it. For the moment at least, it seemed like this match was going to be fair and straightforward.

Jesse hopped on the balls of her feet a few times and put her fists up, eager to get this thing started, and when the bell rang the blonde once again practically mirrored her adversary as she came hurrying out of the corner to meet Alicia! She kept an eye on the girl and swiveled her head to avoid the oncoming fists despite the punches merely being feints. An experienced striker in her own right, Jesse recognized the setup for a low kick, and immediately brought her leg up to parry the blow. It worked, but at a cost.

“Ngh!” she grunted at the stinging pain brought by the impact. Jesse might’ve protected her knee, but the kick still gave her a good taste of just how strong Alicia’s legs were. She’d probably be feeling that sting for a while, but the good news was she was within range to throw something back at Alicia. And as she planted her foot back down, Jesse hurled a right cross straight at her foe’s jaw!

It was a pleasant surprise in Alicia’s book that Jesse didn’t seem inclined to waste time or breath on all the stuff that so many of the wrestlers hereabouts were apparently devoted to. All the posturing and boasting and messing around – she hadn’t run across one in person yet but given how much time was spent on it in matches she’d watched she was counting on it happening sooner or later.

It was going to be tempting to just punch them in the face, she knew it.

And she could definitely appreciate the aggression as both of them came steaming forward with the practiced grace of the pro fighter – no energy wasted, not a step misplaced until they came together in the middle of the ring.

Alicia’s jabs missed as she’d expected they would but they definitely weren’t wasted. It was telling how Jesse twisted her head to avoid them with – again – a minimum of fuss or wasted effort. Definitely a striker then, she decided as her foot clapped into the blonde’s leg with a satisfyingly meaty thunk. It wasn’t the kneecap, which would have been ideal, but the gasp of pain told her that Jesse still hadn’t enjoyed taking that one.

Good start, she was thinking, when it became clear that Jesse wasn’t about to just stand back and let Alicia batter her. Instead, she threw a punch of her own, one that didn’t look like a feint at all. Quickly, the redhead tucked her chin down and brought her blocking arm up to intercept to take the blow on the meat of her arm instead.

Now it was her turn to hiss as pain shot through a limb but it was a hell of a lot better than taking a punch to the jaw in the first thirty seconds of a match.

Hoping to land a blow of her own before Jesse could reset her guard, Alicia shot her other fist forward in a jab aimed at Jesse’s solar plexus.

Jesse’s fist connected, but not with its intended target, similarly to Alicia’s initial kick. The punch blasted right into her foe’s arm, and the feeling of the impact coupled with the resulting thwack told her Alicia was wise to have protected her head just then.

But right at that moment the counterattack came, and a fist thrust itself right into Jesse’s sternum! The hit drew a small grunt out of the blonde while pushing her back a couple steps, though she quickly caught her balance. That little exchange had confirmed a couple facts for Jesse: her opponent was smart, and she was tough. Not that she’d expected any less. Even if Alicia was inexperienced professionally, this was the big leagues. A girl like this wouldn’t be here if it had been apparent she didn’t have what it took to fight at this level.

Still, that wasn’t about to intimidate Jesse, who cautiously yet methodically began to inch her way back in. No point in rushing into the fray right away again. Alicia would see it coming a mile away, and with her power and reach advantage that would just be like asking to get knocked out. Instead she shifted her head and torso around as she moved, wanting to keep Alicia from having an easy time finding her with another punch. And once she felt she was close enough, Jesse thrust out with her left foot to aim a front kick right at her foe’s thigh, before following with a straight right jab aimed at the girl’s jaw.

Taking advantage of pushing Jesse back a couple of paces, Alicia switched her stance, putting the battered arm back away from the blonde and minimising her profile so the other striker had fewer targets. By the time she’d done that, Jesse was coming back in again, slowly and methodically – she’d definitely fought before. People had this idea that rushing in meant a striker couldn’t hit you. Really, what it usually meant was that you just added your momentum to the force of the blow coming the other way. Or they just got out of the way.

And Jesse was ducking from side to side too, making it much harder to land a punch with any real degree of certainty. Fine. Instead, with patience of her own, Alicia let Jesse move back into range. And then, instead of going for the upper body, she twisted at the hips to launch her knee up and into Jesse’s side just below the ribcage. At that range, it’d be a lot harder to dodge and that area ought to still be sore from being punched. If she could work that…

She’d be in a good spot.

Knee strike fired off, she’d just got her feet back under her when Jesse slammed her heel right into the front of her thigh. Alicia hissed but her leg held up – a repeated battering would be a problem, but a hit or two not so much. Ducking away from the jab at her jaw again, she feinted a jab of her own, but instead snapped her elbow around in an attempt to crack that off her opponent’s temple.

So far, they’d just been swapping strikes but neither of them was really getting an advantage. How long that would last… She didn’t know. But she definitely wanted to find out.

Jesse immediately noticed Alicia had changed stances. A wise move. It kept her from being able to continue targeting the arm she’d struck. And it told Jesse a little bit more about how proficient a fighter her foe was. If she could go from multiple stances, that could make her harder to predict. As if the subtle yet significant height and weight difference didn’t give Alicia an edge already.

The front kick found its mark on her foe’s thigh, but the strike came with a cost. Alicia’s knee rose up and smashed right into Jesse’s side before she could react in time to stop it. “Ngh!” she grunted while grimacing in pain, though she fought through it enough to be able to fire off her followup jab, which unfortunately didn’t prove as accurate as her front kick.

Jesse swiveled her head away from the feinting jab thrown her way, then noticed Alicia whipping her other elbow at her. The blonde used what little reaction time she had to raise an arm to try to take the force of the strike. But instead all it managed to do was push against the bottom of Alicia’s arm, elevating the strike so that it hit closer to the top of her skull rather than right at her temple. Still left a lingering ache and made Jesse take a small step back.

The more they danced, the more Jesse was convinced that she couldn’t spend all night slowly chipping away at Alicia. Her opponent had the heavier strikes, and the smarts to trade with her for quite a while without giving Jesse an opening. That meant she’d have to take the initiative and make one herself, a notion that no doubt carried plenty of risk for Jesse as well.

She glanced down at the leg she’d managed to hit a couple times now. It might not be too seriously wounded yet, but chances were Alicia wasn’t going to be too keen on taking much more damage down there. Maybe Jesse could use that to her advantage. The blonde ducked a bit and took a lunging step forward, as if she were about to lash out at Alicia’s leg. But this was merely a feint, which Jesse would then follow by bursting up and aiming an uppercut at Alicia’s jaw, hoping to catch her by surprise with the hit!

From a point of view of wanting to win the match, she definitely wasn’t going about this in the most efficient way. Both women were landing as many strikes as they were taking and, even with her slight advantages in height and weight, it was anyone’s guess if Alicia’d be the one to come out on top. Things could easily tilt either way with no warning and she really ought to be looking for a way to break the deadlock but this was way too much fun as far as she was concerned.

It was a familiar style, swapping strikes, and she was in no rush to change that up. Jesse though seemed to feel differently.

Alicia’s legs were the tools with which she won the majority of her fights, not to mention pretty indispensable otherwise – taking out a leg both made it really hard for Alicia to use it offensively but it also really limited her mobility. She might not be a high-flyer like Valley or that Gallium idiot, but she still really didn’t need one of her limbs giving out on her midway through a match. It would be a real issue and a real drag – ugh, bad pun – in terms of the fun factor.

So, the second she saw Jesse go low and move forward, alarm bells sounded in her mind. The good news for her was that it was her right leg that had taken the previous hit. So it was also the one further back, better protected by her stance. Still, it wasn’t really in Alicia’s nature to just take a hit. Instead, she dropped her guard, looking to score a clinch on Jesse and slam another knee into her belly. And that was a definite miscalculation on her part as the blonde suddenly came up with an uppercut to the jaw.

Alicia felt her teeth click together, luckily with her tongue safely out of the way, as the fist hit home. The big redhead staggered back, managing to stay standing but rising up on her feet with the force of the impact. For a moment at least, she was completely open to anything Jesse might want to throw at her. But she was already shaking off her daze and it was only going to be a very quick window of opportunity.

Had she even managed to land that knee?