Fool Me Twice

It was late, but not too late, in the AFW arena. Late enough that most of the staff had gone home for the day, but early enough that they still had plenty of the space left open for anyone to make their way in and do what they wanted in the ring. Really, it wasn’t that hard to get in. Security didn’t care much what happened, since management was more interested in putting what could’ve gone with their pay into more sundry affairs.

That explained how Dmitri managed to get the main ring of the Friction arena all to himself. That didn’t explain why he was sitting there now, far away from Kyoto, decked out in his Tae Kwon Do attire, doing light stretches with only the occasional check of his phone for the time. Really, he wasn’t that sure on the ‘why’ himself. He wasn’t sure on the ‘why’ of a lot of things he did these days, to be perfectly honest.

He wasn’t sure why he’d spent so much time working out and getting reinstated with the AFW for more competition. He hadn’t made a huge improvement in his overall ability, but he’d seen some modest gains. He was faster now by a good degree, and he’d never been slow to start. He’d improved his arsenal, worked on a lot of new moves, had more options than the average AFW male wrestler. Not that such a statement meant much.

He wasn’t sure why he was so drawn to the idea of working with the AFW in the first place. He hated the idea of being looked on like one of those weakling guys who just came to get beat around by girls. He had some skill. He had some talent. He wasn’t the greatest practitioner of his art, but he was far from the worst, and he felt he should have been able to prove that, here. It just hadn't turned out that way. At all.

He wasn’t sure about a lot of things, and quite a few of the questions he had revolved around a particular woman he’d met only a month or so ago. But if there was ever a time to get some answers on those questions, now was the time.

So he waited and watched the entrance as he did leg stretches with the ring ropes, knowing the person he was expecting to join him wouldn’t be that long in coming. The last time they met, Alicia had struck him as being fairly fastidious, and the time they agreed to meet here was drawing close. She’d be coming in soon. Probably early.

If she was honest, Alicia hadn’t expected Dmitri to call her back. Not that she expected him not to call her back, if that made any sense, but she wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d never heard from him again. Oh, he’d asked for her number at the time, but he’d have had plenty more of that afterwards to ruminate on why going back for more was a very bad idea.

Really, if she was honest, she hadn’t even thought about him much since. She’d been busy one way or another, with her match with the Won Sisters, making more friends with Akino and Eka and Carmen, her title shot, the mess with River Styx and her groupies… The big redhead wasn’t one to long for a quiet life by any means, but she’d had enough on her plate without throwing thoughts of Dmitri in as well, not to mention that she’d had other ways of working out her stress since.

Had it really only been a month? Because it felt a lot longer as far as she was concerned.

His call had come out of the blue therefore, although it was far from unwelcome. Surprise or not, she was glad he’d got back in touch and more than happy to arrange for another sparring session. Dmitri’s preferred term had been ‘rematch’, but Alicia had if anything got stronger and faster since they last tussled thanks to training with Cecilia and her experience in the ring.

He could think what he liked but she was anticipating a nice, relaxing evening of kicking him around the ring. Up until the point she started squeezing instead, that was. Still, it would be nice to see how his vaunted tae kwon do stood up to her kickboxing. And in a proper ring, no less.

That was a nice bonus, to be honest. She really hadn’t expected the reply when she asked where they’d be doing this to be the main Friction ring. Like it was a real match, just without an audience.

It did mean that Alicia had had the locker rooms all to herself as she changed and stretched, warming up in private. She’d given herself plenty of time, so she was still a couple of minutes early as she strode out from behind the curtain to make her way down to the ring.

This time, she wore a simple black leotard, cut high in the back with a square neckline to show off her assets there. This was basically their second date, after all, and she wanted to make sure she made an impression on him. Her gloves and boots were firmly in place as she leapt up to the apron and climbed through the ropes.

”Hey, Dmitri,” the curvy amazon called to him, ”Got to say, you know how to show a girl a good time!”

With that, she flung her arms out wide to indicate the massive, dark space around them before pulling them back in to run a hand over her cleavage.

”Hope you’re ready for another nap,” It was a taunt for sure, but her tone wasn’t malicious, not even as her hand slid down the bold curve of her hip to slap her solid thigh, ”Or for me to get these babies around you again.”

Dmitri had just finished his warm up routine when Alicia’s voice came booming his way, echoing through the stands. Given what happened last time, you’d be forgiven for thinking he’d take her approach as an ill-omen, that he’d be nervous, that he would show some signs of fear as she neared the ring.

Not the case. Dmitri thought he would, too, but really, when he saw her coming down, he was somewhat...relieved. Like seeing an old friend again. Which she was in some ways.

The truth of the matter was that he wasn’t exactly known for his booming social life, especially with women. Oftentimes aloof, always uncomfortable, he had plenty of first dates under his belt, but comparatively few seconds. Companionship didn’t come easy, female companionship even less so, and he couldn’t help but look at Alicia as a friend. Aside from the part where she squeezed him, crushed his bones, and smothered him into unconsciousness, she’d actually been quite pleasant.

It was a weird relationship, he could admit that, but it was a relationship.

He managed a soft smile as she made her way into the ring, even rolling his eyes a bit at her taunts. All in good humor. Even if she could do everything she said and had strong intentions on it.

He let his eyes linger on her legs for a moment - the leotard was new, and definitely not a random choice on Alicia's part. Her body was on fine display. Her full, voluptuous, deadly body. ”You should watch that. One of these days, you might be the one going to sleep.” He blinked and started bouncing on his toes. ”Probably not from me, but still, karma comes around. At any rate, napping isn’t the plan, but just in case…”

Dmitri nodded his head towards announcer’s table, where he’d laid a pillow and a cooler with some water bottles.

”I like to be prepared.” He gave her a quick bow and made his way to the center of the ring, already moving into his fighting stance. ”Ready to begin?”

The redhead’s answer was a deep chuckle as she circled around him, pacing like a hungry lioness.

”Trust me, I’ve taken my fair share of naps, even if the ratio’s still in my favour. The hardcore champ put my lights out not that long ago, for example. Besides, I don’t believe in karma. I make my own luck.”

Certainly, Alicia accepted she wasn’t going to win all her fights. And some of those losses were going to involve her taking a nap, that’s just the way it went. She didn’t resent it, didn’t fear it – you won some, you lost some. Particularly given her background, where post-match humiliation just wasn’t a thing. The redhead was aware that it was something she might have to be warier of here at Friction, but by itself? No, she wasn’t worried at all.

Not that she thought Dmitri was going to be the one to knock her out anyway.

Her eyes followed his nod to the table. Good. At the very least, they’d be needing the water before they were through.

As for his question? Was she ready to begin?

Alicia’s answering smirk was practically a dictionary definition of ‘enough talking, let’s fight’. Aware that this time she couldn’t just go for the takedown, she still came towards him at speed, her feet whisking over the mat as she closed the gap between them.

As soon as she came in range, Alicia feinted a kick at his leading knee. But she didn’t follow through, instead trying to slam her shin into his belly instead.

Considering that the person he was talking to had a high chance of knocking him unconscious in the next few minutes, this was a surprisingly cordial affair. Alicia was warm, even somewhat inviting, and there was an air of rivalry about the whole thing. Granted, she still had the predatory glint to her, the same look that he’d failed to recognize until it was way too late last time, but that came with the territory.

The time for talking was brief, and quickly done. Not surprising - Alicia was certainly not the type for talk. They’d hammered out the details already, the rules went without saying, and if there was any more friendly banter to be had, it would take place after the action. Might as well get to it.

Dmitri didn’t expect a verbal answer to his question, and he didn’t get one. Sure enough, Alicia spoke with her body, and what she said was a definite ‘Yes’, delivered in the form of a deadly leg coming towards him.

Dmitri’s smarts came from books more than anything else, but he’d learned more from his last meeting with Alicia than how her thighs felt. He’d watched her matches since the last time, all of them, and he had a good sense of her fighting philosophy. Enough to know that, when she tries to kick, the best option is always to be as far away from her as possible.

So, the second Alicia came in for a kick, Dmitri leaped back and narrowly avoided her range, staying just on the edge. This had the added bonus of getting him out of the way from the real strike, a shin kick that would’ve left him gasping.

So far, so good.

Looking to seize any advantage he could find, no matter how momentary, Dmitri dashed in, turned to his side, and came at Alicia with a side kick that was meant for chest. Not the most damaging move, but the push would keep her back a bit and give him chance to work the distance more.

So that was how he meant to play it, ok.

Guerrilla warfare. She could work with that.

Between one of them being a kickboxer and the other being trained in tae kwon do, it was pretty obvious that there’d be a lot of legwork in this match. That’d be interesting. Valley Doll was a kicker too, but too canny to try playing that game with Alicia. So she’d gone another way. By contrast, kicking was – as far as she could tell – all Dmitri brought to the table, which left him little choice.

Of course, in what was probably a rare thing for Tension, Alicia was both taller and heavier than he was, so the hit and run strategy – while smart – was also risky as hell. One mistake and he’d be eating a kick on his way in and they both knew what’d happen then. She was stronger than he was, almost as fast and her legs were proportionately longer into the bargain. This promised to be interesting.

Dmitri certainly wasn’t a sloth, turning his dodge away from her attack into a forward push of his own. But Alicia was no sluggard either, the big redhead pivoting her rear foot back so that his side kick hurtled through thin air instead of connecting with her chest. And she kept spinning, looking to bring that back foot up and hook it around to slam it into his side before he could get away again.

Ideally, she’d catch him in the liver or kidney but that would be more luck than anything else. Still, a good stinging blow would be a positive way to open the match and potentially send him sprawling.

While Dmitri had a number of thoughts on what to avoid and what to focus on when it came down to facing Alicia, it all really boiled down to one philosophy: stay standing. More than anything else, that had been the problem in their last confrontation. She was a tough foe to take on hand-to-hand and foot-to-foot, but if she got him on his back again, this would quickly turn into a very unpleasant time. He didn’t have the weight or strength to really match her down there, and speed wouldn’t count for much if he was caught in steel thighs.

That being said, even if it never came to that, it hardly meant he was safe. She could knock him out on his feet, too, and if he’d ever doubted that, the move she pulled off to dodge his side kick would’ve set him straight.

The second his foot touched down after the failed kick, Dmitri knew that he needed to be as far away from Alicia as possible. The footing was awkward, though, and as he glanced back and saw that deadly kick coming, he knew there was only one real option.

Dmitri got his arm down and let it absorb the blow, taking it right on the elbow. He hissed as the sharp burst of pain ran through his bones, but it was a welcome alternative considering what could have happened. It left him with enough wherewithal to slide back a few steps and turn around to face her, getting ready for her next attack as he shook some feeling back into his arm. He doubted he’d have to wait long before she came his way again.

In some ways, this was more interesting. Most of Alicia’s fights to date hadn’t been against strikers. So, for her part, she was in no rush to ground and pound him. She’d been there, done that, and knew she could do it again. This was a chance to see what Dmitri actually had up his sleeves and keep her own skills sharp.

That wasn’t to say she didn’t plan to end this with him right back where he belonged – between her thighs. Or maybe she’d keep up the tradition of smothering him out. Either way, so far as Alicia was concerned, this fight was going on as long as she wanted it to go on.

As she’d thought, the kick hadn’t caught him anywhere vital. Whether it would have done or not, she didn’t know, but her opponent got his arm down and took it on the elbow. That wouldn’t be fun at all, nor would he want to take a hit to that arm again. Knowing that, Dmitri backed up sharply.

It wasn’t part of her game plan – insofar as she had one – to let him keep getting away. The second her foot was back on the mat, Alicia was moving right after him, and this time it was her turn to throw a side kick.

Hers too was aimed at his chest, almost immediately followed by the redhead recoiling and rechambering the deadly limb – curling it back in as she held her balance on one foot to snap the other back out in a second kick. This one followed almost instantaneously after the first, putting Alicia’s finesse and control on display, not to mention her flexibility and speed. All were attributes that tended to get lost behind the sheer power she could put into her kicks but none were to be underestimated.

Well, none were to be underestimated except at her opponent’s peril. And with a battered arm, Dmitri’s ability to block had just been halved.

Okay, so, Dmitri could breath a slight - infinitely miniscule, every-so-small - sigh of relief as he managed to avoid getting kicked in some vital organ and took it on the arm instead. Hardly pleasant, but this fight would be more about lower body, anyway. A hurting arm wouldn’t help his defensive abilities, but that wasn’t something he couldn’t work around.

He was feeling somewhat confident. A tad. After all, he was already doing far, far better than the last time.

That sense of bravado rapidly diminished as Alicia crossed the gulf between him and went right back on the offense. No matter how many times it was demonstrated, he’d never been able to get over how quickly and gracefully someone with a body like hers could move. She was built like a living tank, but it was like her body thought it was only half her size.

Dodging wasn’t the best options here - he was a little too close to the ropes, not enough room to move on the sides, so that meant he had to take them head on. With a hurting arm. Great.

He brought his arms up in a crossblock, just in time to take the strike on his chest. Dmitri croaked as the force drove him back into the turnbuckle and forced him to bounce forward...which put him in a prime place to take the second strike, which hit just as hard and just as fast.

Dmitri slammed against the turnbuckle and leaned on it for support, still clutching his chest as he shook off the shock. He was on his feet, so he wasn’t in the danger zone, but this wasn’t ideal, either. He needed a moment to recoup after that hammering, and he stayed on the lookout for her next move, hoping he could get an opening to escape.

From a strong start for Dmitri, things were starting to go a bit downhill already.

He hadn’t backed up far enough, which meant he had to try blocking one of Alicia’s kicks with his arms.

Yeah.

That went about as well as you’d expect, her foot blasting through the hastily raised defences to hammer into his sternum. Except he’d backed up just enough that the recoil sent him into the turnbuckle, only to stumble right back out into the second kick.

That one didn’t even hit his arms, just right into his chest. That time, he didn’t bounce back out at her, just stayed in the corner looking like he’d been hit by a wrecking ball.

It was a familiar look on him, but the redhead didn’t pause to enjoy it.

Still not dropping that leg, Alicia went into a spin, this time lashing out with a high roundhouse kick aimed squarely at Dmitri’s jaw. It was a monster of a kick, momentum and strength and as much torque as the kickboxer could put behind it powering it towards his skull.

She’d got him backed into a corner, literally, and Alicia had no intention of giving him even a moment to get his wits about him. That meant keeping him on the ropes and pinned in, where he couldn’t use his speed to get away. That meant keeping him where she could pound him with her longer, stronger legs and it also meant a good kick to the head to knock some of those wits out.