The Era of Kaede

Kaede Komatsuzaki stood in the middle of the Friction arena, dressed for combat. In her hand was a live microphone, ready to broadcast her across the world. Around her, thousands of Friction fans waited and watched, wanting to hear what she’d say, as her music died down.

She was new to them, an unknown property. Right now, she was just a silly girl in pink hair. But that was about to change.

”Ladies and gentleman, boys and girl, germs and germettes!” The people groaned, though whether they were genuinely insulted or they just hated the joke, no one could tell. Kaede raised her hand in the air, ushering in silence from the crowd...which they completely ignored. No problem. She was louder than them, anyway. ”My name is Kaede Komatsuzaki, and don’t worry, I’m not here to waste your time. ‘Cause, see, me? I’m all about action. Not talking. Action.”

She started to pace around the ring, wagging her finger as she stepped, her getta click-clacking about the floor.

”See, I know that’s a foreign concept to some of you. You’re used to your heroes coming out here, giving you these long speeches, making promises they don’t deliver on. I get it. They talk big, but they’re not ready to act big. They’re mouths, and mouths don’t do much by themselves. They need fists. They need feet. And me? I’ve got those in spades. These knuckles were made for smashing, and these feet were made for walking over the piles of bodies, the remnants of people who tried to fuck with me, thinking they’d come out on top.” She threw a punch at an imaginary opponent, knocking him/her the fuck out in one strike. ”See? Kaede Komatsuzaki doesn’t talk. She doesn’t blab. She gets things done. And today I intend to get something done...with Silver Ace!”

That got the crowd’s attention. The former Entropy Champion hadn’t been scheduled for action tonight, and the thought that they might get to see her perked up a few ears. Kaede smirked and looked left and right, getting the exact reaction she wanted.

”See, I look at this place kind of like a prison, with the biggest and toughest bitches vying for power. And what’s the best way to make a name for yourself behind bars? Find the biggest bitch on day one and beat the shit out of her where everyone can see. And that’s what I’m going to do today. You’re all going to remember the day Kaede Komatsuzaki came out and beat the shit out of an Entropy Champion on day one. You’ll tweet and retweet it, you’ll write about it on your blogs, you’ll make hasty Youtube videos debating about  the day the Era of Kaede began. The day the talking stopped and the actions began!”

Kaede threw her fist in the air and pumped it, getting an...interesting response from the crowd.

”ACE IS GONNA KILL YOU! ACE IS GONNA KILL! ACE IS GONNA KILL YOU!”

Yeah, not what she was going for, but Kaede just shrugged it off. ”Yeah, yeah, we’ll see.” She turned towards the entrance and pointed straight towards. ”Okay, let’s get this started. I know you’re back there, mighty whitey! Come on out here and get your whipping, like a good little bitch!”

Well...that was unexpected...

Ace hadn't been scheduled for a match tonight, but had requested a chance to go out and get some time on the mic, having planned on calling out River Styx after that weird disappearing act the woman and her partner had played the previous week.

While something good had come out of it, with Ace and Alicia now allies, it still pissed her off. Styx hurt her, hurt her friend, Gallium, RETIRED another friend, Angel, and then when finally forced to fight...she just ran away like a bitch. Well fuck that. Ace was going to bring the fight to Styx.

At least, thats what she had PLANNED to do, preparing herself in her and Valley's personal locker room, clad in her wrestling tights and boots, and a t shirt. Sure, she wasn't scheduled for a match, but since she was calling out Styx, she was expecting WAR to make an appearance, and wanted her boots and gear on just in case.

Waiting for the time scheduled for her, Ace had the monitor on, just for the sake of having noise on, sort of half drifting in, and half drifting out of the show, as some pink haired chick talked about not being full of talk...as she talked...and wanting to kick some ass around the place.

Then, she heard her own name.

That got her attention, Ace turning the volume up and watching as this pink haired new girl, nobody Ace had ever seen before, ranted and raved about how she was going to beat her up, "prison style" or some such nonsense, before demanding she show up to face her, even becoming the second person in AFW to make a racial comment about her.

At least the crowd liked her.

Ace honestly took a moment to think about it. This was just some new girl shooting her mouth off to get attention. Why validate it, especially when she had bigger things to focus on? But, then again, to not show up at all...that wouldn't look good. That would make her look weak, or afraid, and just give WAR more ammo to use against her...besides, why not get some exercise in?


So after a bit, Silver Ace came out onto the ramp, microphone in hand. While her hair had been dyed earlier, and she had her pants and boots, she was...incomplete, wearing her own merchandise, a black shirt with a chibi version of a facepainted Ace on it, her wrists were only wrapped, instead of her whole hand, and she had no face paint on. Still, she was ready to fight, if thats what Kaede wanted.

"So...do I know you?"

Ace said first, getting a slight chuckle from the crowd as she continued.

"Look, Kaede was it? Kaede, you SURE you want to do this? I've fought some of the best this league has to offer, you know? I mean, I know what your doing, and I respect it. I did the same thing when I was a rookie, challenging some of the best in the league to fights!

It's just, no disrespect but...I've got bigger things to deal with tonight, and I'm really in no mood to be humoring you...though if you REALLY insist, then I'll be willing to show you just what I can do!"

She said, waiting for Kaede to reply.

And there she was. Silver Ace.

Kaede had been following her career pretty closely, though there was no way she’d mention that out loud.  The ups, the downs, the triumps, the loses - the Canadian had a storied history in the AFW, more intricate than 90% of the roster and watching her compete was always a treat. That was a big part of the reason she’d picked her as the target - she wanted someone with instant name recognition. Someone whose place she could easily take.

She was all set to start the beating, cracking her knuckles and everything, when Silver Ace had to ruin things by talking and bringing up salient points. Not a problem, though: Kaede knew how to beat logic, just like she knew how to beat everything else.

”Everyone, you see what she’s doing, right?” Kaede point Silver Ace’s way, looked left and right. ”You all see it? She’s trying to run out on me. She’s afraid, ‘cause I’m an unknown quantity! She wants to scout me out, take her time, read my weaknesses before she makes a move.”

Kaede tapped her skull and chuckled. ”Smart, smart, smart. I see it, I respect it. I’m ready for you, Ace…” Kaede shrugged and stepped back. ”I guess you’re just not ready for me…”

Right then, Kaede had to die, simple as that.

Ace shook her head, before raising the microphone back up.

"Okay then. Challenge accepted. I've got way bigger fish to fry, but since your so insistent, pinky, I'll spare a couple minute to play with you. Just try not cry too much when I leave you a wreck, alright? Let's get a referee out here!"

With that, she dropped the mic, leaving it for some poor stage hand to pick up as she made her way down the ramp, sliding under the ropes and getting into the ring, looking admittedly cuter without her face paint, but still ready to fight!