Hearts of Darkness

Five feet and six inches. Not a bad height for an average woman. You could get by easily enough through most walks of life without feeling held back by that stature. You probably wouldn’t think anything of it by the end of the day. For an average woman growing up in the underground? Where women were both few in number and surrounded by hulking, brutish men that pooled together from the lowest, cruelest dregs of society? Practically a death sentence.

But Manami survived. No, she thrived. She stood at the pinnacle of those masses with only her honed skills to stand beside her. Skills sharpened by countless skirmishes and battles with the worst and toughest that the world could throw at her. Grappling with giants, the danger escalating with every passing second, the threat of death looming over her like a great weight from the depths below. She never forgot a second of it.

So it was safe to say, she’d been in this position before. She knew that there were few options one could take when they were confined to a hold like this. Even less when her opponent was as bulked as this one. They could either try to break the hold, as Styx's thicker arms felt very inclined to attempt, or use the positioning against her. When she saw her opponent going for the latter option as well, Manami grew a wide sneer. She took but a second to let the black-clad giant gain speed and hurry towards the turnbuckle. Just one, tiny second.

As quick as she could, she unwrapped the chokehold and pushed back, letting herself fall down the giant’s back and hit the floor. She’d let momentum do the rest of the work, letting Styx stomp past her as she tucked between the taller woman’s legs. Normally, she’d go for the shins while she was down here. Force the woman to trip and use her weight against her. But, again, this one was a bit quicker than the rest. Had to be careful.

It wasn’t as simple as she made it look, of course. It was all in the timing. One step too late, and it could all be for naught. If anything, she’d just end up in an even worse position.

Everything happened fast. Kind of a problem, since ‘fast’ had never been a specialty of Styx.

Her setup seemed like a good one. Ss was backpedaling, and since Manami was too short to get a real base going on while she held on with the choke, she would only have two real options: she could either try to hold on and whether the blow (a bad idea) or let go and get trampled underfoot (a worse idea) There were any two ways about it. Once Styx got moving in a certain direction, she was a juggernaut.

For a moment, Styx thought Manami had chosen the second option, when she felt the hold slacken and the weight left her shoulders. If she wasn’t so busy sucking in air, she would’ve smiled, looking forward to grinding the She-Wolf under her heel. But that wasn’t meant to be.

”How-“ Styx spat a moment before her body slammed into the turnbuckle, rattling the ring with her impact. She’d looked down just in time to see Manami sliding between her legs, getting to relative safety with a slick move. Good reflexes. Styx wanted to test how good.

She gritted her teeth and moved past the pain, surging forward only a second after she hit. Manami wanted to be on the floor? That was fine. It made her an easy target for Styx, as she brought her boot up and tried to stomp her in the chest. Or her head. Or anywhere in the upper body, really. ‘Precision’ had never been a speciality of Styx, either.

A wide grin made its way onto Manami’s face when she felt the ring vibrate.

Confounding a larger foe was always a point of pride for her. It wasn’t that they were all stupid, or that the Wolf was always confident she could go toe to toe with them, but that they were a constant threat. One misstep was all it would take. It was the only assurance she had that she wasn’t losing her edge. Styx certainly wasn’t helping to alleviate the dumb bruiser role. It practically fit her like a glove. Seems Manami was overestimating her foe somewhat.

Although, as she was about to find out, her doubts were unfounded. She expected her opponent to take at least a couple seconds after hitting the turnbuckle that hard. Not a chance. Styx came charging right back, a foot already raised and coming right down with earth-shattering force. Her hackles stood up on end. Quickly, she rolled to the side and just managed to get out of harm’s way.

Shit, that nearly hit her square. Thankfully, all of her ribs were still intact, but she wasn’t coming away without a fresh bruise. The edge of her boot had managed to graze her as she tumbled away. A patch of her skin was flaring red from the impact and itched with burning irritation. The flesh felt loose and numb. Okay. It was a very good idea that she didn’t let that hit her right on. Still, she couldn’t afford to slow down. Not this early on. As she neared the ropes, she would stop rolling and grab onto the lowest rung tightly, making her way to her feet.

While the adrenaline was working on the pain, her mind had to start working on her opponent. A strategy of attack started to take shape before her. However, something told her that Styx wasn’t going to simply let the wolf regain her footing. If she was smart, that was.

Styx couldn’t say she’d purely tanked her run into the turnbuckle. True, she was tougher than most, hardier than about 99% of the frail Friction roster, but that didn’t mean she was invulnerable. When she smacked into the turnbuckle, it sent a raw shiver up her spine, and not in the fun. In the painful, irritating way.

It was the sort of pain that couldn’t stop her, but could piss her off quite a bit, and she was looking forward to the relief she would get from hammering Manami into the ground. Unfortunately, her foe was no long there by the time her boot hit the ground. Most of her, anyway.

The stomp hit with enough force to make the ring shake and the referee squeal, as the noise reverberated around the soundproofed room like a gunshot. She scraped Manami with it, gave her a mark that wouldn’t be going away for a while, but it wasn’t enough, not nearly enough, to satisfy. She wanted contact. Solid, unquestionable contact.

That was what she was aiming for as Manami started to get back up. Styx came charging in, closing the distance with long, powerful strides, moving with all the subtlety of a raging rhino. When she was close enough she made her move, coming from below with an uppercut, looking to sink her fist deep into Manami’s toned stomach, enough fold her clean in half - if it hit.

As expected, only a second passed until she heard the roaring thunder coming straight towards her again.

One glance to the side and she could tell exactly what her opponent was winding up for. River clearly wasn’t the master of subtlety. Manami saw the uppercut coming the moment her eyes locked onto her form. That wasn’t to say it wouldn’t hit her or wouldn't end the match in two seconds. She knew that and jerked her body backward. It wouldn’t hit its intended target at least, but it just managed to bump her forehead.

The force alone caused her head to bounce off the fist as it knocked her on the dome. Her hair whipped back and eyes went wide as she felt the fury tucked away in that strike glance by her and into the air. The corners of her mouth twitched involuntarily. The match had barely gone a minute and all of her senses were already going into overdrive. Her muscles tensed and her body buckled for but an instant.

This was the kind of match she was in.

She was completely correct to think that even one mistake would end this in the blink of an eye. The wolf hadn’t even been solidly hit once and she already had two harsh, deep bruises to walk away from this match with. Even one step off center would put her down, and quickly. The stakes were as high as they could get. She felt the fire welling in her heart. A subtle smile grew on her face as the uppercut scratched her forehead, her eyes meeting Styx’s wild gaze for but a moment. Manami absolutely loved this.

More. She needed to see more. Throwing herself back into a backflip, Manami scampered away to the ropes and vaulted over the top rope before turning and keeping herself balanced, her feet planted perfectly on the middle rope. The Wolf Girl leered over at her opponent.

The pain in her head was throbbing now.

Styx, despite popular belief, could do subtlety - just never in the ring. When you were as big as she was, people tended to see her coming regardless of any effort on her part. Instead of fighting that, she preferred to embrace it. Oh, she would take some hits, but she was used to pain. No matter how much they danced or jumped about, the ring was only twenty-by-twenty. She would catch them, eventually. And then…

She would give it to Manami, though. Sure, the head wasn’t the target Styx wanted, but even so, she would’ve thought that blow to the head would be enough to knock her flat, and then they could get to the real fun - but no. She was a resilient little She-Wolf, managing to keep standing after the hefty hit. Hell, she even had the fortitude to flip away, making some distance with her deft moves, all while she had this growing smirk on her face.

Yeah. Yeah, Styx was liking this.

She came after Manami as she scampered away, not wanting to give her more than inches to work with, and managed to catch up by the time she made it over the top rope. Styx didn’t have much of an idea what she was planning from that position - she didn’t strike her as the high-flying type - but she decided it hardly mattered. It was getting shut down, regardless.

With Manami perched on the middle rope, Styx reached up with both hands and tried to shove her off with a simple, powerful push, looking to send her flying to the floor in the most brutish way possible.

She was still coming. She never stopped.

Manami didn’t even get a chance to catch her breath, and her opponent was already breaking towards the ropes. What an aggressive wrestler. She’d never met someone so tenacious. It was as if she were A lioness pursuing prey across the savannah. A wild wind spiraling thrashing this way and that without reckless abandon. Every hackle on Manami’s body stood up on end.

Yet there wasn’t even the slightest glint of fear in her eyes as she watched River approach. That mad glint in the titan’s eye was like a flame. Alluring, wonderful to behold. The Wolf Girl wanted to see all of it. Everything this woman could throw at her. She got a taste when she threw her arms out in an attempt to shove the wolf off.

She did it with the such brutish simplicity that the wolf was honestly taken aback by it for a second. Only for a second, though. In that same instant, she latched onto Styx’s arms before they could sneak back to their owner. Jumping back, she held onto the giant’s arms, yanking her down roughly onto the ropes. Maybe she’d catch her nose and fall on her back. Maybe she’d get some of that tender flesh under the shoulders hacked away. The outcome didn’t really matter for her. Manami just wanted to start spilling some blood.  

Assuming those meaty arms weren’t slippier than they looked, she’d land on her own two feet safely and her smile perfectly intact.

River couldn’t remember the last time she was so thrilled and annoyed with a fight at the same time. Manami was good. Damn good. They’d been fighting for all of three minutes, tops, and she could confidently say that this was one of the most skilled people she’d ever fought against. Definitely the most potentially dangerous.

She could respect that, on one hand. On the other hand, all this tactical shit was starting to get old. Every failed attack made Styx want to wreck Manami’s shit even more, which made it all the more irritating when she stayed just out of reach. It was like fighting a fly - a fly that could break bones if she messed up too much.

She’d thought she had Manami when she was hanging on the ropes, looking so open and vulnerable. Too open - it was a trap, and she fell right into it. She gasped in surprise as her arms were snagged, then groaned in anger when they hit the ropes hard, pulling her face straight into them. It was like getting whipped in the face, a hard slap that stung Styx on the noise.

It wasn’t the most painful thing, but it made Styx’s entire face light up with pain, and it forced her forward momentum to take a little break. Stunned, she staggered back while she rubbed her face. ”Just for that, I’m breaking a bone. Haven’t decided which one yet.”

That sent a chill up her spine. Not because she was scared, of course. It was the venomous tone that she could hear in that threat.

Styx was serious. That was perfectly fine with Manami. It was reassuring, in fact, to know where they both stood. She was starting to wonder just how far she could push her. If she could really get the chance to see what this woman’s body and mind were capable of when the gloves were off and the restraints were gone.

She’d think of how to go about that later. For now, the Wolf Girl simply took a moment to stretch and catch her breath. God, she hadn't realized how far she was being pushed until now. She was getting a taste for just what this woman could do. It was overwhelming. Almost scary, even. A ceaseless torrent of fury. She couldn’t afford to be caught in the middle of that. It's a miracle she’d managed to make any distance from her unscathed. Well, for the most part.

“I recommend the kneecap. Lots of tendons and nerve clusters that keep people howling for hours. Puts the femur out of commission too. You wouldn’t want these legs getting near you.“

No point in staying down here any longer. Back into the lion’s den she went.

Sliding in from under the ropes, Manami popped up and bounced from one heel from to the other. Her energy was up now. Muscles tense and ready to run once more. Her body was getting ready for the storm coming her way. Things were just getting started between them.

Yuriko was hating her life at the moment. Being a referee in the AFW was crazy enough during even the calmest times, but honestly, it was rarely that dangerous of a job most of the time. Few wrestlers threatened refs in the AFW, and it was extremely rare for them to get caught in the crossfire, at least compared to most federations. The biggest danger a referee faced was slipping on someone’s fluids in the middle of the ring.

Then River Styx came and abducted her, and that opinion changed greatly. Now it was all she could do to hang around the edge of the ring, eying the door, while these two maniacs talked about breaking each others bones. A little distressing, to put it mildly.

Styx was serious about what she said, too, and she knew Manami enough to know the feeling would be mutual. While there was definitely venom in her tone, she stated her intentions matter-of-factly, like it was the most straightforward thing in the world. She said she would do it, and it would be done.

Manami’s suggestion was a good one, though. ”Good idea.” She gave her a quick nod as she came back into the ring. ”Either go for that one or something in your arm.”

She smirked and wiped her face as they got ready to restart, but that was a lot of talk. Breaking those bones would be easy enough. Getting Manami close enough to make it happen wouldn’t. That would take some tact.

Styx charged in again, moving in almost the exact same manner as the first time she’d tried a frontal assault, reeling back for another lariat. Instead of going for the wide open blow, though, she would try to grab Manami before she had the chance to dodge, looking to bring her in close for a tight hug. What she’d do after that, if she could even snatch her, she wasn’t sure, but the first step would be crucial, regardless.