Alicia Wells vs. Valley Doll - Kicking It

Match Type: Standard
Victory Conditions: Pinfall, Submission, or KO


It was another episode of Friction, and once again Valley found herself in the middle of the ring as her music played loud across the arena, serenadign the audience with the sweet sounds of Pat Benetar. She was all smiles, bobbing to the beat, getting the crowd behind her and pumping them up. Standard fare, really. She'd done it hundreds of times in hundreds of venues around the world. All natural, all reflexive.

On the outside, she was going through the motions right. Smile. Wave. Scream. Wink at some lucky guy or girl. Stand on the turnbuckle. Soak in the energy.

On the inside, things were a bit more conflicted.

Valley’s relationship with Alicia was a complicated one, especially for someone she’d only met a little while ago. Friend? Mentor? Rival? It was hard to put an exact label on what she was with the promising and powerful newcomer. There were aspects of Alicia’s personality she liked, even admired. But there was a darker part of her, too. The part that choked Gallium into unconsciousness. The part that was starving for a good fight.

Valley just hoped she could satiate that part, tonight, win or lose. And she wasn’t nearly cocky enough to think that she couldn’t lose here.

As her music died down, Valley retreated to her corner and started doing some simple leg stretches with the turnbuckle, getting limber while she waited for Alicia to make her entrance. Not that it mattered much for the match, but it would be interesting to learn what her musical tastes were. Could always tell a lot about a wrestler from the entrance theme they chose.

Alicia had been looking forward to this match ever since Valley had thrown the challenge in her face following her terrible debut against Gallium. The sparring match between the two had been just enough to whet her appetite back then and now she was going to get the chance to see exactly what the blonde could do in the ring. That had her tugging at the metaphorical leash, aggressively eager, and it felt a bit like a trial to get through the week in between. Having learnt the value of it, she’d pulled up and watched several of the veteran’s matches which had both filled out her understanding of Valley’s tactics and confirmed what she’s suspected.

Dealing with a high flyer was still going to be a pain in the ass but if she could ground her, Alicia was pretty sure she could take her apart. It wouldn’t be easy but – win, lose or draw – she knew this was going to be so much more challenging than anything Gallium could throw at her. Stood at the entrance, she’d watched the ex-cheerleader make her way down, eyes narrowed and intense.

And then it was her turn and, tugging at her gloves one last time, Alicia stepped into position.

As far as the audience were concerned, it must have been ominous. The lights simply cut out, except for the scattering of emergency ones. There was no music, no official theme at all. Simply darkness and then, when the lights snapped back on, Alicia was stood centre ring like she’d appeared out of thin air. She liked this entrance so much better.

Her appearance was greeted with a chorus of boos, many of the audience still remembering what she’d done to Gallium only the week before, but the big redhead was paying no attention whatsoever. As was becoming her custom, she wore the same black sports bra and cycling shorts matching her fingerless gloves and boots, that slasher’s smirk firmly in place as her gaze rested on her opponent to the complete exclusion of the audience or even the ref when she patted Alicia down to check for weapons.

Standing her ground, she proffered one hand to Valley in the same handshake she’d offered Gallium – and Valley herself before they’d sparred.

When the lights went out, Valley assumed that there was some sort of power problem. There was a brief suspicion that this was just part of Alicia’s act, but that didn't quite gel - Valley had seen this sort of entrance before, and there was always some sort of spooky music playing over it. Ominous tone, people chanting in Latin. This couldn't be it, right? Alicia wasn't just going to pop in the middle of the ring when the lights came on.

Then Alicia popped in the ring when the lights came on.

Despite somewhat expecting it, both she and the referee jumped back a bit at the sudden appearance. It was a tad creepy, and the fact that Alicia didn't even have some kind of ghost gimmick strangely made it moreso. There was something disturbingly focused about her, as if the entire universe ceased to exist while she looked at Valley. Coupled along with her deranged smoke, there was no way to tell if that was just how Alicia was or if she was trying to psyche the Slamazon out. If it was the latter...well, it wasn’t not working.

Valley glanced out at the audience, taking in the onrush of jeers, before she looked back and saw the extended hand. There was only a brief moment of hesitation before she took it with a firm grip and accepted the gesture. Alicia had yet to give her any reason to distrust her, and Valley hoped this match wouldn't change that.

She kept her gaze solid and stern, though, nothing to playful about it, making it clear that business was about to begin. ”Ready for the final exam?”

More than one of her opponents had commented on the uncanny focus Alicia had when she was in a match. There was her, there was her opponent and that was it. Nothing else particularly interested her, which was perhaps one reason why she hadn’t struggled with the move to Friction in quite the same way as she might have done. Wrestling in front of an audience that was already apparently disposed to hate her guts – judging by the number telling Valley loudly not to take her hand – bothered her roughly as much as wrestling in an empty room. She wasn’t there to put on a show for them, she was there for herself.

And that was it.

Still, she was happy that Valley ignored them, giving the blonde a tiny nod of respect – and also of answer because, as Valley would know, the other thing Alicia didn’t do much of in the ring was talk. She liked her actions to speak for her and that nod and the firm handshake she offered in return were all the blonde was getting from her.

She at least had said all there was to say. As for the final exam thing… Hell yes. But Alicia didn’t view this as an exam. As far as she was concerned, however this went, she’d already won. If this was a test though, she fully intended to ace it.

The redhead backed up into her corner, stretching out her lethal legs in the brief moment before the bell rang. Once it did, she came out as fast as ever in her swift, efficient shuffling gait, her feet whispering over the mat. Valley’d know how fast she could move but, even so, they’d only sparred once. And Alicia knew that she couldn’t mess around and let Valley dictate the pace.

So she was looking to close the distance almost immediately, coming in hard both high and low – high with a straight jab at where she expected Valley’s jaw to be, low with a sweeping kick aimed at just taking the blonde’s legs out from under her.

Valley had read some of the dirt sheets about this match, and she knew that they viewed her as the favorite to win based on experience. As she watched Alicia stretching in her corner, she couldn’t share the sentiment.

Alicia had a number of advantages over Valley. She was stronger overall, and her body was clearly built to take and give out damage. Maybe Valley was faster, but her height gave her a crazy range that could nullify that, and her intensity gave her the drive to make the most of it. She clearly had skill - maybe not in wrestling, but that didn’t necessarily mean much. It wasn't like the current World Champion was a virtuouso in the ring, either.

Valley had agility and in-ring experience on her side. Would that be enough? There was one surefire way to know.

She came out of the corner to meet Alicia and, no surprise, the eager young woman started firing right out of the gate, moving like every second she spent not attacking Valley was a complete waste. The Slamazon blocked the jab easy enough, but immediately jumped back after it hit, anticipating that a kick wouldn’t be too far behind. She was proven right, as a kick that could’ve knocked her off her feet came damn close to doing just that.

Valley stayed in motion and move around Alicia’s flank, skirting around the edges of her range. She got inside as she made her way around and threw out a quick low roundhouse of her own, trying to hit the back Alicia’s thigh with the snapping blow.

In the run up to this match, Alicia had been doing her research. She’d looked up matches, read what she could find on the internet about Valley’s style and moves and generally done her best to get some sort of idea what she was in for. She’d also got the benefit of that sparring match and she generally felt going in that she’d got a decent idea what to expect. Not that it mattered.

Valley was, if anything, faster than she remembered.

Alicia hadn’t expected both her strikes to hit. She hadn’t been feinting either, but she might as well have telegraphed that first jab on a silver platter. She’d been more hopeful about the kick but, apparently, Valley was wise to that trick as the blonde simply skipped back and around at the limits of her range. Alicia too wasn’t stupid – she didn’t want Valley behind her – and so she was already in motion as the swift kick came in.

As a result, the roundhouse was more of a glancing hit, though it was still enough to cause Alicia’s expression to tighten a fraction as the pain shot up and down her limb. But it held of course and the redhead didn’t falter. Instead, she fired back, putting her weight on her uninjured leg and bringing the other up in a sharp arc meant to plant her shin in Valley’s belly.

This wasn’t 100% new for Valley - in Slamazons, she’d faced an MMA-type of opponent before. It had been a while, around the middle of her tenure with the company, and she couldn’t quite recall the experience so well, especially since the woman hadn’t stuck around with their company for long. But she remembered it was a painful experience, that she lost that particular bout, and that Alicia was tougher than the woman she’d faced back then, whose name Valley couldn’t recall for the life of her.

Of course, Valley was better now than she was then. Whether that balanced out in her favor remained to be seen.

After her kick got in some small contact, Valley intended to move out Alicia’s range and start picking at her again, but that strategy was cut short when retaliation came earlier planned. Valley tried to get a leg up to block the kick, but she was a wee bit too slow this time, and her opponent scored the first solid blow of the match, with predictable result.

It wasn’t enough to knock Valley off her feet, but it came closer than she liked it. The Slamazon stumbled away and gasped, briefly rubbing her stomach and making a slight retreat.

The trouble with hits to the leg – the upper leg in particular – was how easily those could lead to muscles there being bruised. It wasn’t like you could miss them given how much of the leg they took up and with a little effort, they could end up bruised. And then they cramped and the last thing someone who relied on them as much as Alicia needed was her legs cramping. Throwing a kick would be bad enough but the sort of persistent, extended squeezing needed for a scissors? Forget it. Not happening.

Of course, the corollary of that was that she spent a lot of time maintaining her strength and flexibility in that area, meaning it’d take a lot more than some kicks to really impede her. But even one took a second or two to wear off, hence the tightened lips as she kicked out anyway. But it was worth it, given she was able to drive that shin right into Valley’s belly, turning the exchange distinctly in her favour. That had been lucky, really. If Valley had backed off a second sooner…

If wishes were fishes, they’d have fish stew. Whatever.

Looking to take advantage of her brief opening, Alicia stepped forward, bringing one foot up in a simple front push kick meant to take Valley’s head clear off her shoulders. She kept one arm up to guard her face, the other lower and torqued her hips to generate more power for the blow.

Not a minute in, and Valley had already taken a fairly strong hit. It wasn’t a critical blow, but she didn’t like the precedent it was setting, taking such a blow so early on. She needed this to be a wrestling match, keep it in her wheelhouse. The more this veered towards pure kickboxing, the more it played away from her strengths and into Alicia’s.

The younger wrestler knew she’d gotten a good hit in, too, and it didn’t seem like she was going to waste it. Another kick came Valley’s way, this time aimed high and going straight towards her face, dedicating a good number of her body’s muscles to the effort.

It was just the sort of opening Valley needed. She ducked under it at the last moment and moved forward, stepping out behind Alicia, but not going too far.

She took a quick pause, planted her feet on the mat side-by-side, then did a backflip while her leg flew up and over in a wide arc, trying to hit Alicia in the head with her signature Pele Kick before she could fully recoup. Valley normally didn’t like to bringing out one of her better attacks so early, but she had the feeling this match would be about taking opportunities when they presented themselves.

The instant Valley started to duck, Alicia swore loudly and viciously in the privacy of her head. Too early! Too damned early! She should have gone for the sure thing and aimed at the legs or the body, not tried to be smart and shot for the head. Simple or not, she’d committed herself to the forward momentum of the kick and – miss or no – there was no way anyone could just abort that. And trying would just land her in more trouble, even if she’d had the time, which she really didn’t.

Valley had amazing timing. It wasn’t just the speed, it was her ability to pick the moment to use it. A heartbeat later and Alicia’s kick would have hit her face first. A heartbeat earlier and Alicia might have been able to do something. As it was, all the red-haired fighter could do was watch Valley casually drop down under her leg, vanishing out of sight as the kickboxer’s momentum took her forward.

Still, Alicia didn’t go that far. She’d missed her fair share of kicks in both training and fights and she whirled around almost instantly. She’d let Valley get out of her sight last time they’d fought and that had been the start of a trend. She wasn’t going to let that happen again if she could possibly avoid it.

Except she turned around right in time to catch a boot to the back of her neck.

Alicia’s body spasmed with the impact, swaying for a moment before she dropped to her knees almost poleaxed by the hit. She then toppled forward only to catch herself with her hands an instant before she’d have hit the mat face first. Blinking, she shook her head, then went to push herself back up woozily at first but then with growing surety.