Hearts of Darkness

Manami liked to consider herself a fairly robust woman. In spite of not having the thickest nor tallest body around, she’d always thought that she’d trained her muscles well. She’d taken all forms of punishment in the past and had gone toe to toe with some of the dirtiest fighters in the country. If there was a trick someone had up their sleeves, she’d seen it already. The Wolf Girl was confident she could take most of anything that came her way.

But when you were dealing with someone like River Styx, you realized just how ignorant you truly were when it came to punishment. She heard the rustling beneath the ring and something metal drag against the hard floor. That didn’t bode well for her and, as time would tell, she was right to be worried.

“AHH!”

The edge of the chair drove into the back of her leg like a stake. Despite not breaking the skin, the pain felt as though her leg were being severed in half. Her lower body recoiled and shot under her as she clutched her thigh closely. Her teeth clenched even harder as a scowl made its way onto her face, looking back at Styx with utter disdain and raw fury. Inwardly, she promised a very painful end for this woman, knowing better than to throw out errant threats like that without having a leg to stand on. Literally.

That didn’t mean she was out of options, however. She may be down, but she wasn’t out. Not even a chance. Pressing her hand firmly against the concrete before Styx had the chance to wind up another slam, she pushed to the side and rolled quickly underneath the ring, disappearing from sight for a moment. She wasn’t hiding, though. The wolf knew better than to act as wounded prey, looking weak and practically waiting to be finished off. No, she had to strike back and quickly. Her opponent managed to snag an instrument underneath the apron. What were the chances there would be another?

A couple seconds of scrambling, and she’d already found something more than suitable. A nice, sturdy 2x4. Clutching it tightly with both hands, she readied herself by the edge of the apron. Of course, she wouldn’t wait for Styx to simply look under. The woman was adept at a hardcore setting and likely too smart for that. Instead, from behind the cloth, she’d jut out the strong plank of wood and slash at the air in front of her, aiming to catch the larger woman’s legs from behind the tarp.

There it was. It wasn’t much, really, but it was a nice taste of what Styx was hoping to hear much more of. Even though she barely knew much about Manami’s history, she could tell it was a rare sound, that few had ever heard it. She recognized the significance of it, that it made Styx special. Styx liked being special.

The sound of Manami Kuroda screaming.

It was a hoarse, short, raw sound, about what Styx would expect from a throat that wasn’t used to making noise like that. Considering what she just struck, it wasn’t much at all - most women would be rolling around, howling like a scalded dog. Not this one. This one just looked back at Styx with the most loathsome, hateful glare imaginable, a chilly stare that was designed to make blood freeze. If the She-Wolf got back on the offense, her vengeance would be terrible, almost Biblical. All the more reason for Styx to make sure that didn't happen.

That would be a little more difficult than Styx liked, however, since it seemed that Manami wasn’t willing to sit still and be an easy target. Surprise, surprise. She’d just started to wind up for another blow, when the She-Wolf scampered her way under the apron. Her first instinct was to just chase after, crawl under the ring and pull her out, but she ignored that instinct a second after she had it. Mostly because it was a fairly stupid idea.

”No, please, taking your time.” She scoffed and raised the chair, trying to anticipate where Manami would emerge. ”Got a special surprise, just for-”

Styx was interrupted by a block of wood, of all things. One that unceremoniously crashed into her shin and sent a jolt of pain running all through her lower leg. It was her turn to cry out in pain now, as the blow dropped her hard to her knees and put a scowl on her face, not unlike the one she’d cherished from Manami.

”Cunt!” Snarling, she lashed out and did the only thing she could think to do in such a situation: retaliate in kind. She swung her chair through the apron, striking where she guessed Manami was based on where the board had come from.

Of course it worked. It had to work, even if she couldn't see it.

It had worked on Belinda, where the situation wasn’t far off from this one, and she was a nimble, high-flying Northman. Styx was none of those things. Just a big target designed to take hits. Sounded like she took it well, too. There was a loud thud like someone tipped a cow over, then a cry of agony. Great.

Now here was something that wasn't working: her leg. It was numb from the pain and she couldn’t bend it anymore. Didn’t bode well for her ability to get out of the apron quickly enough to avoid whatever her larger, severely pissed off foe had for her.

She had a feeling she wasn’t exactly going to get away with that strike, either. After she struck gold, she held the board between her and the apron, gauging where exactly Styx might send a strike from the other side of the cloth. Turns out that was a smart move. She swung wide and hit the wolf on her side, but she got the board in the way just in time to avoid taking the brunt of the damage. It made a decent chunk in the wood, splintering one of the sides.

Inwardly, Manami felt relieved that she hadn’t taken that hit directly. Outwardly, she was less than hopeful about her current predicament. The board was chipped and nearly done. There were still a few more instruments about, but she didn’t have the time to go fumbling around in the slight darkness beneath the ring.

No, she had to work with what she had. Pointing the board towards the cloth, Manami would put her good leg down on the ground and leap forward. Aiming where she believed the strike came from, she’d drive the loose plank of wood into Styx’s chest like a spear as she burst out from beneath the apron. While the Wolf Girl couldn’t pinpoint her location exactly, she was confident of at least grazing the woman.

Again, big target.

”Goddamn fuck shit fucking son of a bitch-”

Needless to say, Styx was not in a happy mood. Turnabout was fairplay, yes, but that didn’t mean she had to be happy about it. It was hard to be happy about having your legs nearly cut out from under you. Mostly she was mad at herself - really, really should’ve seen that coming. Didn’t make her want to annihilate Manami’s face any less, but she really should’ve.

Whatever. This was the situation she was working with, and it wasn’t about to improve. Her steel chair did hit -something. But she’d hit enough people with chairs cleanly to know when a blow was flubbed. Manami had discovered an unusual use for the 2x4: blocking. Clever.

She was hurting, aching, and there was a fierce cunning carnivore nearby. What happened next wasn’t too surprising, really - the beast pounced out from underneath the curtain, with her fangs fully bared.

The board slammed into Styx’s chest and brought her down hard, with the lighter woman on top. Weight didn’t matter much when you had the leverage and a weapon to back it up, and it didn’t help that the bald brawler wound up dropping the chair in her confusion. Definitely not a good spot to be in.

Wanting Manami off ASAP, she planted her good foot on the floor and jerked hard to the left, trying to toss off the She-Wolf before she could get a good pin going and start wreaking havoc.

Bullseye.

There was a bit of lingering doubt in Manami’s mind as she burst out from the cloth. The horrible reality of hitting nothing but dead air was one she didn’t want to face anytime soon, now of all times. An injured leg, an angry titan, and being stuck on the ground was a combination just promising to get her killed. This was her only chance to get even with her. The wolf wasn’t going to let this slip away from her.

Manami managed to hit her target square on, the wood crashing into Styx’s chest like a spear. The wood splintered slightly against the impact. At the end of it, she was on top of the giant and in full control of the situation. Of course, she wasn’t going to be allowed to stay there. Her opponent was quick on the rebound, throwing the Wolf Girl off just as soon as she got on. Manami wasn’t going to let that go, however.

She was still reeling. Her mind fixated on tearing this woman limb from limb. That insult she was given wasn’t going to stand. Blood demanded blood. Things were about to be even between them real soon.

As she went tumbling to the side, Manami would reel the plank back and, with all of her might, swing it right down onto Styx’s face, chipped side landing on the beast. The board was almost done anyway. Might as well get some use out of it.

It was like something off National Geographic. Or, better yet, When Animals Attack. Like watching a bear and a wolf go at it.

There she was, River Styx, the big, bad bear, queen bitch of the forest. She thought she had the wolf cornered, that her size and strength and bulk would be more than enough to get her through this, but she’d underestimated just how fierce her enemy was when cornered.

It would’ve been a cliche to say Manami came out from the corner like a bat out of hell, but that was really the best analogy for it. The sheer alacrity of her move took Styx off guard, and though she managed to throw her off, that didn’t mean she was in the clear. Not even close.

She had just enough time to see the plank coming towards her face, but not nearly enough time to do anything about. The board crashed into her jaw and immediately filled her head with white-hot pain, as the coppery taste of blood overtook her tongue.

”Fuck!” She rolled away, twice, before coming to a stop on her hands and knees. She spat on the floor, launching a mix of blood and spit and...a tooth. A goddamn, fucking tooth. Shouldn’t have been that surprising, really. Hell, it was a small miracle that, with the lifestyle she lived, she’d never lost a tooth before. Still pissed her right the fuck off.

Blood. Oh, sweet blood.

It spilled from Styx’s mouth and stained the ground. A bit of bone came with it. In any other situation, at any other time, the Wolf Girl may have been ecstatic at the sight. A small victory in this brutal exchange. A memento forever staining the ground of her own den. If there was any greater feeling than seeing your opponent on their knees and leaking their life onto the floor before you, the wolf didn’t know it.

However, Manami wasn’t as enthusiastic this time around. It had the usual effect on her. Hairs stood up on end. Breaths became a bit heavier. Goosebumps ran along the skin. But the smile was gone. A busted nose tends to have that effect. Instead, she wanted nothing more than to tear this woman apart limb from limb. Losing a tooth would be the most fortunate thing to happen to her by the time this session was over and done with.

She looked back to the plank, seeing past the slight bloodstains that it was being held together by a single chip. With a hard grunt, she threw the weapon to the ground, letting it break in half before looking back over at Styx. The giant was still reeling. Pathetic.

“Get up. I’m not done with you.”

Her words were coated with venom. Every utterance captured her disdain in full. She wasn’t satisfied just yet. Not with any of this. She wanted to get back to the bloodshed. Now.

The Wolf Girl wasn’t exactly inclined to wait for her adversary to come back at her either, but her bum leg left little in the way of options. The muscles still weren’t responding and felt as though they had been caved in. It hurt to move and, when it did, it wasn’t very far. The only thing she could do was wait and let it recover. She pondered a retreat but decided against it. Staying outside of the ring and its compact space was the best strategy. It wasn’t any safer, but it was still the better one. Nowhere was really safe anymore. Styx was about to make sure of that.

God dammit, god fucking damn it, what tooth was that? It looked like a molar. Fuck.

Styx rolled her tongue around her teeth, and sure enough, she was mixing one of her back molars. Most of it, anyway. There was still a little spiky part, and a hole that was currently gushing blood in sports, filling her mouth with that lovely metallic taste. She wouldn’t have minded it so much, except for the pain that was surging through her head at the moment. She’d have to see a dentist. She hated dentists.

But the good thing about pain? It was excellent rage fuel. At the moment Styx knew just what to spend it on.

She’d expected a followup attack to be coming soon, but surprisingly enough, it didn’t come. She looked over to see the wooden plank - what was left of it - get tossed over to the side. Manami barked, egged her on, clearly wanted much more of Styx. A good thing that she was about to get all that she could handle and more. ”Not done with me?” Styx slammed her fist into the unforgiving concrete and pushed her way up. ”Yeah,” She spat off to the side. ”You’re right about that much.”

Styx and subtlety rarely mixed, and this wasn’t going to be one of those times. With a feral roar, she pushed her way up and came barreling at Manami as fast as she could with her rotten leg, ducking down low to tackle the She-Wolf and slam into - and maybe through - the nearest wall.

Did she look angry? She looked pretty angry.

Manami wasn’t sure what exactly gave her that impression. Perhaps it was the fist slamming into the concrete with what looked like enough force to leave a crack in it. Maybe it was the way she spat her blood to the side with a fierce scowl on her face. Or maybe it was the roar that resembled that of a bear more than anything that could possibly come from another human being.

Really, it was the feral glint in the woman’s eyes alone was more than enough to tip Manami off.

Here came the stampede. Manami was taken off her feet and had the wind knocked out of her all at once, but she wasn’t going be taken away like this. The wolf dug into the woman as the two went speeding towards the nearest wall. A few swings of retaliation that went straight into her face.

It didn’t stop her, of course. It was like trying to stop a rhino with a slap to the face. It just pissed it off even more. The Wolf Girl hit the wall. Hard. The plaster gave way to her back, making an imprint on the wall. If Styx had full use of her legs, she probably could have busted through it like wet tissue paper. The shelf above her rattled and gave way. The wooden plank flipped down and dropped a cardboard box full of...something onto her head. Something hard and heavy, clearly, as the closed contents landed right on Manami’s head. Her skull rattled and fell forward weakly.

All she could do was lock eyes with the black-clad woman. A feeble glare made its way onto her face, with her legs limp and arms draped over her aggressor's broad shoulders.

Angry? If Styx had to put a word to the feeling she had right now, ‘angry’ wouldn’t do. Too simple. Too common. ‘Enraged’,  ‘incensed’, ‘absolutely fucking livid.’ These were more appropriate words to describe the fury coursing through her veins right now.

She channeled that rage, used it for much-needed fuel as she came charging forward and slammed into Manami with all the grace and subtlety of a grenade in your face. It wasn’t something that came without a price as she wound up taking two shots to the face in the process, stiff strikes that took out what was left of her molar and loosened up a few more teeth besides.

More pain. More rage. More fuel. ”Fucking die!”

They hit the wall with brutal force, rattling the room and earning a shriek from the referee. It wouldn’t have been enough to stop the She-Wolf on its own - she was too tough, too stubborn, and too much of a bitch for that. The toolbox that fell on her head was enough to finish the job, dizzying Manami for a moment. It probably wouldn’t have lasted too long with someone like this, someone who could take this much punishment and keep going. She’d be fine in, say, three seconds.

Unfortunately, Styx only needed two to reach up, wrap her hands around the She-Wolf’s throat and start choking the life out of her. Her fingers dug in, tight and deep, slicing into the flesh with her nails, and she pressed forward with an inexorable grip. All the while, her eyes met Manami’s and never shifted. Not an inch.

She wanted to see the lights go out. Didn’t want to miss a second.