Summertime Violence

Angel was not a happy woman. This much was obvious to the AFW audience as the Latina made her entrance, stomping her way down to the ring. She wore a serious expression on her face, and her knuckles were white from how tightly she was clutching her microphone. Angel wasn't happy, and everyone knew why.

It had been a few weeks since River Styx and her cronies had attacked Angel and Ace during a match against each other, and this was the first anyone had seen of the Latina since then. She had taken the time since the attack to recover and rest, but now she was back, and she planned on doing something about the attack. Part of her did feel guilty, though. Part of her thought that Ace should be out here too, but the rest of her, the intelligent part, had decided against it. Ace had been drawn into the attack by association with Angel. It was the Latina's fault that Ace had gotten herself involved and hurt, and she had decided not to involve her with what she was going to do tonight. She didn't even tell Ace what she was going to do tonight, and she was fully prepared to get an earful from the girl that was her little sister afterwards.

Once she reached the ring, she slid under the ropes and raised her microphone to her lips, waving for her music to be cut off. "I'm not going to waste time," she began, pacing back and forth across the ring, staring towards the entrance that she had just passed through. "River Styx! I know you and your cronies are back there! Get your sorry ass out here, chica! Bring your buddies if you want! Me and you have some talking to do, you know?"

As Jessica was milling around the back of the arena, everyone kept looking at her like a bank robber who had made it to the county line. Most of the people who were attracted to wrestling had a puerile sense of what was right and wrong. They still believed in justice. They still believed that Jessica and women like Jessica were going to get their comeuppance and that everything was always going to be fair in the world. The Violent Violet had been around the block enough to know that the only justice you get was the justice you earn, by bloodshed and cheating and manipulation. Everyone who had known since the age of about 13 marked her as an inveterate cynic, but the only thing truly canine about her was her pursuit of the belt. Nothing else mattered. Not when she annihilated girls in the ring, not when she hit Angel over the back with a baseball bat, not now. Jessica was back there to try and talk and intimidate her way into Summer Splash when the opportunity of a lifetime knocked on her door.

She moved her way through the arena at a steady pace. All of her history here in Tokyo came to her in flashes, from her failed debut, to fighting in an apartment, from losing the Entropy title to going two on one and winning. Her wins were three times more common than her losses but still she felt like a failure. The belt. The belt was her focus from day one in Tokyo and she had been close then far then close again. Now she was in limbo, but it was a good limbo. It was a limbo that she and River and Abattoir were in control of and could influence. Alone she was strong. Together, they were a force of nature.

With the implacability of a tornado, she moved towards the entrance. The people lining the sides parted like the Red Sea as Jessica marched ever on. If a fight started tonight, she would have a rough go of it as she was not in her red wrestling outfit save her red boots. She found jeans that fit her thighs which were as thick as tree trunks and black tank top that showed off her impressive musculature adorned her torso. Before she stepped out into the limelight she grabbed a microphone.

The crowd rained a hail of boos on her as she stepped out into the light. They had no idea how inconsequential they were. There was no more ass-kissing she had to do now, not to them, not to Kelly, not to anyone. "Here I am, like a bat out of hell. And haven't I met you somewhere before?" She stroked her chin and tapped her foot at the top of the entrance ramp. "Oh, that's right. How is your back?" She bit her lip and grinned like she got away with stealing something.

As Jessica stepped out into the arena, Angel's foul expression grew even worse, her frown growing larger as she stared up the entrance ramp towards the woman. She felt a slight tinge in her back at the sight, and couldn't help but growl as Jessica spoke to her, grinning like she was the most clever woman in the world.

Angel's arm snapped upwards again, the microphone coming back up to her lips as she gave Jessica a quick response. "It's a lot better than yours is going to be, chica. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about your sorry ass. I owe you a beatdown too, but you're not who I asked for tonight."

She lifted her other hand, waving it dismissively in Jessica's direction. "As much as I would love to kick your ass, I have more important fish to fry. So! Why don't you do me a favor, scurry backstage, and find that big bald gorilla you work for? Send her out here so I kick her head off, then I'll come give you what you deserve. Go on now. Go find her and tell her to get out here like a good little flunky!"

Jessica thought she was going to have fun tonight. A dark cloud grew over Jessica's head the more the Latina spoke and Jessica dug her heels in literally and figuratively. The smile faded from her face and turned into a frown. She had done far too much to be considered a flunky or a small fish or even a chica. There was no way Angel could not recognize her as formidable in her own right. There was no way anyone could not recognize her as formidable in her own right.

"Nah," her tone belied her anger, "Nah. I was the one who cracked your back and kept you on the ground and I am more than happy to do that again, let me fucking promise you that." She pointed at herself and at Angel in turn as she spoke. "And who the fuck are you? Hasbeen, I don't see a fucking belt around your waist. I don't see a goddamn thing you have done in the past twelve months for you to be talking as high and mighty as you are. You could not kick the head off of a goddamn match." The crowd favored Angel over her and they were happy to make that obvious. Jessica doubled down. "Fuck you. You aren't worth shit. It ain't 2013 any more honey and there is a new sheriff in town. The stock of Jessica Wright is on the rise and everyone's buying."

Jessica began pacing now. "I want a match. You and me, no stipulations, no bullshit. A regular ass match for a regular ass you. Then everyone can see exactly how phony you actually are."

Angel growled as she listened to Jessica yammering on, wishing the woman would shut the hell up. Jessica wasn't the only one that was angry tonight, and Angel was pretty quickly reaching a breaking point.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, and when Jessica finally stopped running her mouth, the Latina forced herself to smile, looking coldly up the ramp towards the woman.

"You're right, chica. I'll give you one thing. I haven't done much over the past year...well, besides beat the hell out of your boss at Summer Splash last year. That's what this whole thing is about, you know. That dumb gorilla is so upset about last year that her sorry ass had to grab a couple of flunkies and come mess with me and Ace. It's pretty sad, you know. She's so upset that she lost to me that she can't move on and has to try and ruin my day."

Angel shrugged, and sighed, and shook her head towards Jessica. "But...fine, whatever. I'll put down the gorilla again later. You want me, chica? You got me. Right now, you and me, no bullshit. Get your ass down to the ring right now and let's do this."

She flung her microphone to the side afterwards, and began bouncing up and down on her heels. She was riled up now, and she absolutely could not wait to unload on Jessica. She just hoped the woman would hurry up and get to the ring so they could get started quick!

"No one cares about your day. No one cares about your stupid little comments, and no one cares about you. Don't you get that? The former champion doesn't matter anymore. You have to, have to understand that. You ain't that stupid, at least I hope." Jessica was moving forward now, stalking towards the rings like a panther. "I'm not a flunky, never have been. DEFCON 1 never stopped and now you got the baddest girl at AFW coming your way, chica. Go ask any of my fucking victims what happens when you mess with Jessica Wright. Let my tell you, that pretty face of yours is not going to be so pretty anymore. Hell, I might break those legs of yours too, just for fun." Jessica was ringside now, she stepped onto the mat and then hopped over the ropes.

She wasn't in her wrestling outfit and wasn't limber enough for a match at all. There was not backing down now however. She walked over to where Angel was standing and looked straight into her. Up close and personal, and standing, Angel was quite impressive. Not intimidating to Jessica, but still impressive. Jessica's fists were clenched and her hand was still tightly clenched around the microphone.

Jessica took another step forward. They were practically on top of each other now. The pores in Angel's skin were almost visible to Jessica's eyes and Jessica breath became abated. Suddenly she moved the microphone up to her mouth. "Fuck that. This bullshit doesn't matter. Tell you what. You, me, Summer Splash. We'll have a fucking date. Call the fucking nearest hospital and get your bed reserved because you are going to need it."

With every step Jessica took, with every word she spoke, Angel felt herself growing more and more angry. Just who the hell did this loser think she was? She was acting like she was the number one best fucking fighter in the world, and Angel was completely ready to teach her otherwise.

As Jessica entered the ring and stepped towards her, the Latina stepped right back in her direction, moving to meet her. She leaned towards her, listening to Jessica's rambling, ready to cut the bullshit and just fight, when the woman finally made her challenge. Summer Splash. Of course. Of course she wanted a piece of Angel at Summer Splash. She should have seen it coming.

She pushed closer towards Jessica after the woman made her challenge, leaning closer still so that their bodies were just barely touching, her forehead pressing against Jessica's own as she stared icy daggers into the woman's eyes. She reached up, actually grabbing Jessica by her wrist, just enough to pull the microphone closer to her own mouth.

"You want me at Summer Splash? You want me at Summer Splash?" She laughed, briefly, then adopted her serious expression again, the momentary humor falling from her face again. "Fine, chica. You're on. You want to take on Miss Summer Splash at her own show? It'll be your own funeral, bitch. I beat down Styx last year, and I'll do the same damn thing to you this year. You want me? You got me."

She then let go of Jessica's wrist, but remained in place, not breaking her gaze from the woman's eyes for even a moment, her breath growing faster as she leaned against her challenger. She wanted Jessica to attack her, she really did. A punch, a kick, anything. She wanted a fight, and as excited as she was for the chance to beat down Jessica at Summer Splash, she was itching to let out her frustrations right here and right now!

If you could tell what someone was thinking when you rubbed your forehead against someone else's, Angel would have seen images of destruction unheard of since the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. She was as cool as a cucumber when Angel grabbed her wrist. Jessica was doing her best to show that she was not even slightly afraid of her, and Jessica reckoned that she was doing a damn good job. The Latina didn't realize it, but she was just a stepping stone. It might have been Angel's show so far, but Jessica was nothing but a showstopper and Angel was going to be nothing more than a bump on the road to the belt.

She listened to the words coming out of Angel's mouth and weighed her response. A cheap shot here would be nice and surely would throw Angel off guard. But that was too obvious. It was time for mind games. "Just you, me, and the ring. No special rules to save you, no friends to help you. We clear, whore?" Her voice was low now, made heavy with premonitions of horrendous violence. Her eyes never wavered, not even for a second as she stared into Angel, trying to get the full measure of the woman.

"Here, I will give you a souvenir to remember me by. Save the fucking date, puta, and don't let me catch you napping." She reached down and pulled Angel's black bikini bottoms and slid the microphone in between the fabric and her strong leg. Her fist shot up, not to deck Angel, despite the fact that she wanted to, but to open and then gently pat her face. "Got to go, sweetie. See you soon."

She turned on a dime and exited without haste. Jessica slid under the bottom rope and marched up the entrance ramp without looking back. The Violent Violet was finally going to be on a PPV and it felt nice. Her mind raced with a dizzying amount of thoughts. How can I train for this? Should I have River there for backup? Where the fuck is this event going to be? Jessica felt the urge to turn and look back at Angel before she entered the staging area, but resisted it.

Whore. That was a new one. Angel had been called a lot of things before, but this was the first time she could remember being called a whore. She made a mental note to pay Jessica back for that little insult in particular.

She didn't move as Jessica slid the microphone into her bikini bottoms, and she didn't even flinch as the brawler's hand approached her face. She held her ground, glaring coldly at the woman all the while. She wanted her now. All Jessica's words and actions were doing was making Angel want to take her down even harder. She couldn't remember the last time a single person had gotten under her skin like this and it was starting to get to her.

She stared in silence as Jessica whirled away and slid out of the ring, making her less-than-quick exit. She folded her arms over her chest as Jessica headed up the ramp, and finally sighed, shaking her head slowly. She was disappointed, she had to admit. She had pegged Jessica as the type to totally try and cheap shot her, and not getting the chance to let out her frustrations on the woman was aggravating to think about. Nevertheless though, Angel knew her chance was coming soon, and she was going to prove to Jessica why messing with her was a mistake.

She soon went to slide out of the ring herself, heading up the ramp with her own exit, her thoughts turned entirely towards her upcoming Summer Splash match. She was looking forward to this, perhaps more than any Summer Splash match she had ever had before.