Bad vs. Evil

Word was spreading through the Tension crowd tonight, talking about some strange announcement that was supposed to be made around the hour mark of the show. Some were saying that it would be Melissa Sellers, coming out to announce a major tournament. Others were saying that some big talent was moving up - or down, depending on who you asked - from Friction, and they were about to make their grand debut. There was even a rumor that some long-lost talent was making a surprise return from overseas. Hush-hush stuff.

What they wound up getting, instead, were the Valkyries.

The troublesome trio’s music began and a unified chorus of boos came immediately after, only intensifying as the roar of motorcycles came rumbling from the back. Devine was the first to come rolling out, straddling her bike with lazy smile. Stone followed soon after with her thunderous Harley and a hard scowl. Finally, of course, Mako made her way out between her two lieutenants, clad in her tight leather and her skull helmet and a chain over her shoulder, a smaller imitation of her favorite superhero.

She gave the crowd a customary middle finger, then turned off her motorcycle and made her way to the ring, with her lieutenants following close behind. Stone made her way around the ring to snatch up the microphone, while Mako and Devine made their way to the center of the ring. When she reached the center, Mako pulled off her helmet, revealing the smirking hellraiser underneath.

From ringside, Stone tossed her the microphone, and the diminutive destroyer caught it with her raised hand and a wide smile.

”Hey, bitches. Miss me?”

”Boooooooooooooo!”

”Yeah, about what I thought.” Mako started to pace around the ring as Stone came in, leaping clear over the top rope and shaking the ring with her impact. ”All right, shitheads, I know you're all stupid as fuck and waiting for your next dose of porn, so I'll make this quick. For those of you who don't know, this is Devine…”

Devine licked her lips and waved to some cute guy in the front row.

”...this is Stone…”

Stone folded her arms and nodded, keeping her face a stoic mask.

”...and I am Makoto Takeda, and we are the Valkyries!” She raised her fist into the air, gaining a fresh of hate from the audience. ”Now, today, we’re here to deliver a public service announcement, officially putting everyone in the back on notice. From this point on, the AFW is claimed as Valkyrie territory. What does that mean?”

Mako scratched her head and top a step back, moving next to Stone’s imposing form. ”Simple. If you're in the back right now, if you're in the lockerroom, if you’re fucking in some hall closet, if you're getting a snack out of the machine, you owe us. And when you see us and we come to you, you pay what you owe. We tell you to give us money, you give us money, and in exchange you get to keep your teeth.”

The crowd was growing more raucous by the second, hoping someone would come out to challenge them, but Mako raised her hands up to calm them down. Didn't work, of course. ”I realize some of you in the back might be a little iffy about this new arrangement, so I'll tell you what: this is your chance. Come on down to the ring, and we’ll have a friendly discussion. Get it all out in the open.”

Translation: Who was dumb enough to be their example? In Mako's experience, there was always one hero...

Alicia wasn’t a regular attendee of Tension. As usual for her, unless she was researching her opponent, watching other people fight was most often boring, frustrating or a mix of the two. Certainly, she hadn’t a problem with watching women beat up men or men beat up women in the ring, but Tension’s more sexual tendencies further soured her on the idea.

But Dmitri had a match tonight and he’d given her a ticket and… well, Alicia genuinely hadn’t got anything better to do. So there she was, maybe not ringside but as close as she was likely to get. And it was just as boring, frustrating and irksome as she’d expected – squash matches, obvious mistakes and just… the sheer frustration of watching people who she’d like to fight and being stuck as a spectator.

Things definitely improved when the bikers turned up though.

At first, it was just another promo, just another bunch of windbags yattering about what made them so awesome.

Then they got to the meat of the matter and the redhead started to smile.

Nobody had turned up from the back by the time Alicia had shouldered her way down to ringside, so she felt completely justified in hopping the barricade, shoving the security guy who tried to stop her aside and sliding into the ring. Where she promptly went nose to nose with the leader, or at least as close to nose to nose as they could manage. The eight inch height disparity meant Alicia loomed over Makoto like a storm cloud, after all, the kickboxer’s curvy frame dwarfing the Valkyries’ leader.

”If you wanted a fight, you should just have said so.”

The big redhead’s lips split in a truly horrifying smirk, as she cracked her knuckles. This had very literally just made her evening.

”Who’s first, losers?”

‘Confusing’. That would probably be the best word to sum up Mako’s feelings about what happened next.

There she’d been, expecting some chump or chumpette to come out and take her on. Maybe Clyde Gastin, if she was lucky. Maybe some new guy looking to make a name for himself right off the bat, get the fans on his side at the cost of a few broken bones. Something like that.

She was looking down the ramp with eager eyes, but as it turned out, she was focused in the wrong direction - their challenger was coming from the audience. At first, Mako thought it was just some overzealous fan, and while she had absolutely no qualms with running roughshod on some random woman, it wasn’t the statement she was out here to make, and she knew management wouldn’t let them do it for long before they security got in the way.

But those thoughts flew away when the woman got in the ring, and Mako saw just how big she was...particularly below the waist. Large, thick, powerful, and actually a bit familiar. Enough for Mako to know she wasn’t just a fan, but a fellow wrestler, though not a Tension superstar.

”You…” She clicked her tongue as she looked up at the redhead. While her size was damned impressive and she wasn’t someone to take lightly, if just being bigger than Mako was enough to send her running scared, she wouldn’t have gotten very far. ”Yeah, yeah, I know you.” She snapped her fingers. ”You’re the chick who beat up Nobu a few months back. Funny shit. Alice, right?”

”Alicia. Alicia Wells.” Mako took a step back and Stone stepped forward, placing herself between the two of them and giving their guest someone she could look eye-to-eye more easily with. The former soldier didn’t make a move...not just yet. But they were definitely in each other’s personal space, and the crowd was into the idea of the two clashing.

”Alicia Wells. Got it.” Mako stepped around the two as Devine wisely held back, not wanting to get anywhere the WMDs. ”All right, you want a fight, we can make that happen. Only problem is, Stone here looks like she wants a piece of you. And I kind of want a piece of you, too.” She folded her arms and looked Alicia over, up and down. ”So, pick your poison. Who do you want?”

Suffice it to say that, while Alicia supposed being remembered was a good thing, she would have preferred not to be remembered for that match. And preferably by her proper name.

Though at least the big one of the trio got it right as she stepped up, getting… almost in Alicia’s face. Certainly in her personal space, but neither woman seemed inclined to back up. Instead, the redhead just inclined her neck a bit, raising her gaze the inch or two required to meet Stone’s.

”If ‘funny’ means boring and irritating as hell, yeah,” Her tone was laconic, disinterested, ”I didn’t come here to waste my time fighting clowns and idiots.”

Mako, the leader, just kept on talking though and Alicia’s eyes rolled skywards a little. She’d already covered this. Why did people have to make this sort of thing so difficult? Stone wanted a piece of her, sure. Mako wanted a piece of her, sure. Just line on up, Alicia was happy to fight all of them.

Hell, that’s why she’d come out to the ring. And Mako was calling it a problem?

”Oh, that’s not a problem.”

Alicia’s grin widened if anything, her eyes flicking from Stone to Devine and then to Mako again.

”I want all of you. Who wants to be first?”

She shifted her weight from foot to foot, ready to make the choice for the trio in front of her if they didn’t get their act together. Once she’d made her own mind up, at least. So far, she was leaning towards getting rid of the small fry so she could have some fun with Stone.

The biggest of the three at least wasn’t rambling so much.

At Alicia’s reply, Mako’s face flashed, becoming unsure and surprised for the briefest of moments. She hid it quick, replacing it with a wide grin that mirrored their new, redheaded friend’s, but it was there. She’d expected the challenger to pick, maybe, Stone, since the two of them were getting all up in each other’s faces. Maybe she’d pick Mako herself, wanting to try and cut the head off the snake.

Nope. She wanted the full Valkyrie experience.

The crowd had been a bit iffy on Alicia, not knowing what to make of the unexpected appearance, but they were starting to come around with the show of bravado. Fine. They wanted a show? Mako’d give them a show.

”All of us, huh?” Devine had a little chuckle, hanging back by the ropes as Mako continued to circle. ”Someone’s an overachiever.”

”Yup. Big lady-balls.” Mako tapped her chin for a moment, thinking over a few ways this could’ve rolled out. She and the others could’ve just ganged up on Alicia right away and beat her into the mat, three-on-one, but maybe it was better to do this the sporting way. Make a point.

”Okay, you’re on. Devine?” Mako stepped back, gave her lieutenant a quick slap on that fine Brazilian ass of hers, and ducked through the ropes to the apron. ”You’re up first. Have fun.”

”What?” She looked to Mako, then to Alicia, then to Mako again, her wild hairs flying about with each turn. ”Why the fuck am I starting off?”

There was a reason for it, actually, but as Stone made her way through the ropes to join her at ringside, she didn’t much feel like revealing it. ”Pecking order, deal with it.”

That answer didn’t seem to satisfy Devine in the least, but the referee was already sliding into the ring and taking up position. The leanest of the three Valkyries started to circle the ring, waiting for the bell and keeping a wary eye on her much bigger, perhaps slightly insane opponent…