Champions Among Champions

It was another night at Friction stadium. A few matches had already gone underway and finished. The audience was wondering what would be happening next, perhaps some kind of match or a promo being held by a wrestler. Their question would then be answered when Friction General Manager theme song started to play.

The audience would watch as the pink hair General Manager appeared on the ramp with a microphone in hand. She would make her way down the ramp, giving a few high fives to some lucky audience members. Upon reaching the edge of the ring, she would make her way towards the steel steps before taking her time to climb it and entering the ring between the bottom and middle rope.

Taking a few seconds to enjoy the roaring of the crowd, Angelique would then finally put the microphone near her lips. “Greetings fans, viewers and even wrestlers of AFW. Today I have a special announcement, it is with great joy that I announce a special match. This is a match between two current title belt holders, the one that I have been hinting for a while now. The current Entropy Champion, Valley Doll will take on the current Tag Team Champion, Akiha Kosha.” stated the general manager as the fans then began to roar.

A Champion vs. Champion match, the sort of thing that the AFW rarely got to experience in any form. The crowd was suitably hyped, and for more reasons than the potential prestige it brought to the ring. Valley and Akiha were two women with similar fighting styles, regularly appearing on top ten lists for the best high-flyers in the AFW. Valley hadn't been truly tested against a woman in her own frame since she took on Julia last year, so the questions were already festering. Could she hold against a younger woman who could counter her tricks? Would experience win over youth.

Big news - especially to Valley, who was hearing it for the first time. ”Okay…”

She’d been hanging around backstage, as she often did during the Friction shows even when she didn’t have to compete, never knowing when a challenger might present herself. Tonight, it seemed like that was more prudent than ever - not only did she have a chance to state her opinion on the match, but to get a little face-time with the new general manager.

So, after a quick rush to the gorilla position, Valley’s musicmusic[/url] played, and the woman herself came out a moment later to great aplomb, dressed in her ragged blue jeans and her favorite Led Zeppelin t-shirt. She did the usual pleasantries - the wave, the smiles, the flirtatious wink to a guy wearing one of her merchandise headbands. But her focus was mostly on the ring.

Valley rolled her way inside and popped up, then took a moment to look over Angelique. Short. Young. Cute. Pretty much the polar opposite of what you’d expect from an authority figure. The Slamazon had never been high enough on the totem pole to meet Lukretia when she’d been around, but she’d heard the stories, and this new women seemed to fall a little short.

But looks could deceive. They would see.

One of the stage crew handed off a microphone to Valley and she immediately spun about to face the audience, cradling her title in her spare hand.

”Well!” She casually strutted forward. ”Well, well, well. This is interesting. I have to say, when I woke up this morning, I hadn’t planned on getting the opportunity to kick around one half of the world’s snottiest tag team...but now that I’ve got it? I have to say, I really like the sound of that. So yeah, I’m down.”

The crowd gave the applause, showed their approval, but Valley held up a single finger as she turned to Angelique. ”But! I am curious to know what the pampered princess has to say about all this?” Valley’s gaze swung back to the entrance ramp, where she hoped some music would be playing in a moment. ”Ms. Akiha? Want to come out here and have a quick word?”

Akiha had been in her locker room, dealing with all sorts of paperwork. She had the TV turned on to watch Friction, just to see if anything was going on. A bit too her surprise Angelique was now making an announcement. Seeing as she had not been talked to about it, she assumed it had nothing to do with her, maybe some of the other champions, like Cecilia and Ace would take part in a match.

The crimson hair wrestler eyes would then go wide when she heard her name being announced. The Japanese wrestler took a moment to process it all. She would then suit up, getting into her wrestling attire. During this time she would see her future opponent, Valley Doll making her way down the ring and then began to smack talk her. The Japanese crusader was not going to have any of that, she would make her way towards the entrance to the ramp.

Akiha theme music would start to play as she got onto the ramp with a microphone in hand. She would start to make her way towards the ring before sliding in and taking a good look at the two other ladies in the ring. Angelique had grown much since their last encounter, both physical and in power. She had never thought the young pink hair American would end up becoming General Manager of Friction. Though right now her attention was mostly on the Entropy Champion.

“You know, when I just heard this match a few minutes ago, I was actually going to respect you as an opponent. I thought, hey, she is a champion, she must be good, better than most of the other foreigners in this league. I was thinking you would be someone who lets their actions speak for them. Yet to my disappointment, here you are throwing insults at me, how typical of foreigners. Even though I go around winning matches on my own merit, without using my wealth, people like you keep bringing it up. Well, I always enjoying show people like you how capable I am in the ring. So yes, I accept this match and no, there is no need to put your title on the line, it would not be fair for you to put your title on the line while I don't put mine.” stated Akiha as she tried to make Valley look like the villain. It always seemed people would never treat her as an equal due to her background.

And there she was.

It was strange to think that Valley and Akiha hadn’t crossed paths before now, that they’d never gone up against each other in any shape or form. They traveled in similar circles, fought many of the same opponents, and you didn’t have to stretch much in a separation game to draw lines between them.

But here they were. And none too surprisingly, it wasn’t a pleasant meeting.

”Oh, I’m sorry, am I being a little unfair?” Valley canted her head to the side. ”Life lesson, Akiha: we’re judged by the company we keep, and you keep some pretty poor company. If you’re concerned about people throwing your wealth back at you, maybe don’t hang around with Gwen and her little maid army.”

She gave the belt on her shoulder a quick pat. ”At any rate, glad you accept. And if you don’t want the belt, that’s fine with me, too - bragging rights only.” She took a step back to the center of the ring. ”So let’s make it official, then - come down here and we’ll shake on it.”

Akiha would glare at Valley, annoyed at her opponent remarks. “Guilty by association then? You sound awfully familiar to a mad tyrant who constantly makes threats to Japan. As for Gwendolyn and her little army, maybe you have not been watching my matches with her. But in every single tag match that we have taken part in, it's just been Gwendolyn and me, no maids, no army. We have won every single tag match on our own and have not lost a single one. So next time, why don't you do a bit of research instead of using slander and defamation.” said Akiha as she tried to even further demonize her future opponent.

“No need to shake on it, maybe I need to give you a lesson in business and contracts, they are done with paper and pens. So instead of shaking on it, I will sign on it, as that is legally binding agreement. I will have our managers sort out the details. You do have a manager, don't you?” said Akiha as she took a step forward, looking at Valley.

”Nope.” Valley was quick to shake her head on that last one. She’d never needed a manager before, and she certainly didn’t need one now - the wrestling life was hard, especially when you had a belt to carry around, but she’d grown used to it. ”I’ve been in this game for nearly fifteen years, honey. I don’t need anyone else to handle my business.”

She walked to the edge of the ring and leaned over the ropes, getting on even level to stare straight at Akiha. The woman was confident, she wouldn’t take that away from her. ”Just send me the papers and we’ll make it a date. Looking forward to it.” She gave Akiha a quick wink. ”May the best woman win.”

Akiha would stay mostly silent as Valley said her final words before leaving the arena but she did have one last thing to add. “Yes, may the best woman win.” she responded as she didn't really have much else to add, she had made her points and felt she had gotten it across to both her opponent and the audience as well. Not even looking at the General Manager she would then exit the ring and make her way up the ramp and towards the locker room.

* * * * *

“And there you have it, soon we will have our champion versus champion match, the Entropy Champion, Valley Doll versus one of the Tag Team Champion, Akiha Kosha. I for one am excited to see how it goes.” stated Angelique as she attempted to hype the match up. She would hear the audience cheer and then take a bow before she herself left the ring as well.