Cafe Research (Open to anyone)

One eyes closed, tongue poking cutely out from the corner of her lips as she focused intensely on trying to navigate the website back to the main page with the unresponsive laptop nub. The streaming site she used certainly lacked not only in quality but also optimizations. The public use wi-fi no doubt compounded the issue. She spoke up cheerfully, responding to rebecca's question, blissfully unaware the English lass had temporarily moved away from the table. "Sure is. I'm actually signed with them." She squinted at the screen, scrolling down to find something on the pay per view card that would be easy for them all to follow and talk at the same time... perfect! She tagged the mounted mouse key on the  tag team ladder match, having to give it a few more solid presses before it actually took.

She nudged the laptop to the far end of the table, allowing them to semi-circle around one edge to all get a decent view. She scooted her chair slightly closer to Ryoko, invading her sacred table quadrant. She threw an arm behind her resting it along the length of the backing of her chair. "That's a tough questions. I mean, right now I'm just trying to get established. Pretty sure just about everyone will tell you they are shooting for gold." She nodded slowly, glancing sidelong at the dreaded buffering circle filling the laptop screen. "Someday, I'm sure that will be me. I have to get up to that level first though." She slouched back in her chair with a soft sigh. "The gap is a bit further than I was expecting... but I get better every day, so it's only a matter of time."

She turned to eye Ryoko, prodding her shoulder lightly with an outstretched finger. "You seem to know more about AFW then me, what do you think. Who should I be looking to challenge, who should I be watching?" She grinned sheepishly, it was a bit awkward for the employee of the company asking advice to the fan. She was sure in time she'd become more familiar with the roster though. "Who is your favorite?"

Thank God, the tea is still warm. That will help the cookie go down more smoothly. Just got to ration the amount of tea with the cookie and she's solid. Not the first time that Rebecca had to do it.

She had hoped the messages that she sent went well. Café Wi-fi aren't usually that good but it is only a text message and not streaming a match. Even as she had momentarily left the cool table, Rebecca heard AJ's response and that really surprised her. She's also joined with AFW? "Mmmm."A surprising turn of events, the Briton didn't expect to meet another newcomer. Then again, the AFW was ever growing so no doubt she would have bumped into another newbie. She couldn't respond further since she has a mix of tea and dry cookie inside her mouth.

Still, a very pleasant turn of events indeed.

She returned, just as AJ was responding to Ryoko's question. And a good answer. No doubt the level is growing and AFW is quite known to attract a lot of international talent. The US of A, UK, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Mexico, Brazil to name a few. Which means you get many people of many different skill levels. It's a good place if you wish to become better. The dream to hold gold would be with all wrestlers (well... apart from the jobbers...) and Rebecca would certainly want the prize, to do it for the men in the army that helped her become not just a fan of wrestling but also be one.

She joined the two ladies again, AJ bringing up footage of the recent Summer Splash, if it could buffer it all. Waiting patiently until she is asked or if she has something to say since AJ asked Ryoko a question. Meanwhile, she has her own battle with the cookie.

Ryoko had felt a little bit aloof up until now, if she were being completely honest. She’d spent so much of her time training these last few years that she’d sort of divorced her social life, rarely getting out and making little effort to form any real bonds. As such, she felt like she was out of her element when it came to meeting people for the first time. People from different sides of the planet in particular.

But now they were talking shop. This, she could do.

”Well…” Ryoko took a moment to tap her chin, organizing her often scatterbrained thoughts into something resembling a cohesive presentation. ”You’ve got Cecilia Northman, sitting at the top for now, but that’s a bit high to be reaching for people like...” She bit her lip and chose to remain incognito. ”...you want to start small and work your way up. Your best bet is to set your sights on the smaller titles and fight people circulating around them. The Entropy Title’s currently held by Valley Doll, and there are still some former champions around. Silver Ace, the current hardcore champ, was one. Gwendolyn Bettencourt and Akiha Kosha, the tag champs. Then you’ve got people like Alaina Sanders, another former title holder, Belinda Northman, Cecilia’s little sister and a constant challenger for the belt. You’ve got some new, but dangerous faces, like Manami Kuroda or Maria Tempesta, up and comers with a lot of potential like the White Heavenly Army. And that’s just if you like keeping it PG-13. If you want to start getting into the R-Rated stuff...”

She scratched her head, iguring it was better to cut it short before she made this crazy and creepy. ”I could make a long, long list. Like, literally, if I had a pen and paper. But.” She hesitated with the next part, though probably not for the reason AJ would realize. ”There is a wrestler who you remind me of. Low-level, but trying to make her way to the top, too. Not super-skilled, but she’s looking for challengers - the Black Fang. I’m sure she’d show if you called her out, and you two could have a good match. Decent starting point.”

Ryoko had gotten her undivided attention now, the inside scoop from someone well more informed than her. She held up a finger. "Hold on, one sec!" Sliiiiiding the laptop back over, she minimized the video window just as the buffering ended... go figure. She took a moment to also unplug her ear buds and turn down the volume. As she pulled up a notepad document they could hear the announcers in the background, talking shop before the ladder match was about to get underway. As Ryoko rattled off names, she wrote them down, fingers tippy-tapping along the keyboard. She'd look back, making sure she spelled them correctly as they went along. She kept her opinions to herself in regards to hardcore matches, assuming the R-rated stuff the dark haired native was referring to was just another variant on that but with more blood. The poor naive girl. She was pretty proud to get most of the names right and went about writing small notes next to them.


Champs
Cecilia Northman: Top dog. Crazy car lady. AVOID. Not yet.
Valley Doll- Entropy title. (Mid-card belt??????) ---Look up matches---
Silver Ace - Hardcore title
Gwendolyn Bettencourt - Tag title
Akiha Kosha - Tag title
- Look into tag partners?

Former
Alaina Sanders: Look up matches
Belinda Northman: Look up matches (Pick her brain?)

Other
Manami Kuroda: Be careful. Look up matches
Maria Tempesta: Be careful. Look up matches
White Heavenly Army: Be careful. Look up matches. (Good band name?)
The Black Fang: Look up matches. Good for debut? Cool name.


She made double sure to save the document, having been burned one time to many with lost progress. "Gosh, wish I could just keep you in my pocket or something Ryoko. You could be my wrestle index or something. I have plenty of good leads now, maybe even a good match candidate..." She minimized the text document and pulled the video feed back up, setting it to full screen. It seems like they missed the first entrance, but that was fine. Alexa positioned herself to watch the screen, tapping a foot softly to the low volume music. "What's this Black Fang person's thing? Do they bite people?" She smirked over at Rebecca and Ryoko, shamelessly using two fingers to mimic fangs. "She's not a vampire, is she? Only does night time matches. gets wheeled down to the ring in a coffin or somethin'?" She couldn't help but feel that would be a pretty cool gimmick if someone did do it. A bit too tacky for her though... She also wasn't pale enough to pull it off, not that she was thinking about it or anything! That seemed like a heel thing anyhow, that wasn't who she wanted to be. Let somebody else pretend to suck blood and levitate around the ring with wires or something, not her.

Ryoko has proven to be a good source of information. Very helpful that she knows more about AFW and it's wrestlers. Rebecca herself didn't do enough research before coming here, only seeing some old matches and that one match for the Friction World Championship title. It would benefit her to stay close to Ryoko. Such information would be very helpful.

Or at the very least, ask AJ for the same list.

As AJ found some leads to go over, Rebecca looked on the screen to see where she could start. Belinda sounds appealing, facing the sister of the Friction World Champion could make a fun match. Sure, there's no harm in starting off easy. But if you want to make a mark here, why not beat up a vet? Okay, that sounds like a stretch, they wouldn't be easy to beat but she'd done well when in tricky situations in the military days. Should be the same here. As AJ saved the document and pulled back the video of the Summer Slam Tag Team Championship match, she noticed the two that Ryoko mentioned. The Imperial Order. Rebecca did notice Akiha Kosha, the woman that she had seen from one of the two videos she had seen. A high-flyer, eh. She'll have to look out for her.

Facing other newcomers would be another path to start with. The ones marked as dangerous did piqued her attention. Those once must have made a mark in the AFW. The Brit would have to look up on those two but she wouldn't mind going up against them. She dealt with worse before, nothing could surprise her the Brit would think. Funny how a prim and proper Briton like her would consider throwing down with those two.

Rebecca chuckled when AJ joked about of the Black Fang's gimmick. Her's isn't as... comedic as the other foreigner's. But sometimes someone with a name like that could be quite a force to be reckoned with. Almost choking on the tea she has in her mouth, Rebecca put the cup and saucer down. "You actually described one wrestler that I saw live back in my country. A silly gimmick but he made it work." Now she wondered what the mysterious Black Fang could be. "I'm guessing more like a snake. Maybe a submission artist?" Tapping her chin as she makes a  thinking pose, making a correlation between Black Fang and a Boa Constrictor. Who knows. Couldn't be far off probably. "By the way, you said that Manami and Maria are dangerous. Any particular reason as to why? The woman in red would turn to Ryoko. Wouldn't hurt to ask.

Now came a real challenge: Ryoko had to talk about herself without making herself feel like a complete tool. Not that she minded the challenge, especially if it could push AJ into issuing her a challenge. Her fellow rookie was so energetic and interesting, she was keen to see how she fared in the ring, and she liked the idea of being one of the first to take her on. On top of that, the AFW had a bad habit of putting their incoming talent up against women that were, well, evil bitches, just to see them get destroyed for a cheap thrill. If Ryoko was AJ’s first opponent, she could make sure her friend skipped the hazing phase.

Plus, she wanted to see just how good she was with the double-identity thing. No better chance than this to test it out.

”Vampire?” She snickered at the thought, then cut it off when she remembered that one of her rejected concepts was a blatant Queen of the Damned ripoff. ”Yeah, no, she’s not like that. More like a superhero. Superheroine. Protects the weak, defends the innocent, ‘ally to good, nightmare to you’.”

On that note, it was timely that Rebecca brought up those two names. The mention made Ryoko’s dander get a bit up, but she managed to keep it at a simmering level. ”They’re bullies. Tempesta’s kind of a creep - mean, nasty, rough in the ring. Manami, though…” She chewed her lip. ”Well, there’s a lot of talk backstage about her group, the Dire Pack. Really tough group, leaving bodies in their wake. Honestly? Give them a wide berth. Like, super wide. People who go against them tend to get wrecked pretty bad.”

Alexa's lips parting leaving her mouth slightly agape, stars twinkling in her eyes. As Ryoko had continued to speak to Rebecca, she didn't even register the words. Reaching out she grasped for Ryoko's sleeve, giving it a tug. "No way. You are kidding me! ...Are you kidding me? That is so... so... COOL!" From behind the counter there was the sudden clatter of mugs, a barista behind the counter glaring their way. Whoops. "Protector of the innocent, defender of the weak..." She repeated the line in a soft murmur, almost as if it were a mantra. Alexa bit her lip at the thought as she seemed to snap out of her haze to stare directly at Ryoko, the most serious she had seemed up until this point. "I'm doing to do it. I'm going to challenge her." Her mind raced, not wanting to jump into things blindly. She had to train. She had to prepare. She wasn't going to make a fool of herself in front of an honest to god Heroine in the ring, that was for sure.

"Do you know any of her old matches? I want to look them up." Right now, apparently. She released her grip of the other woman's sleeve leaving a bunched up imprint where she had taken hold. This ladder match could wait! "Shoo" she snickered at the screen before hammering the back button a few times bringing them back through the streaming website browser. "If not I can just search her." She seemed to be talking to herself as she looked around for the search bar or button... her Japanese wasn't what one would call polished and the side bar stuff was images so no amount of google translate could help her.

"Bullies...leaving bodies in their wake...People tend to get wrecked badly..." Hmm...that kinda sounds like a job for Super Black Fang.

Still, they do sound like big threats by the way Ryoko is saying. And it sounds like they may be undefeated maybe. Probably assumes that they haven't faced someone to be even bigger of a threat than they are. Will have to exercise caution with those people. Unless if they so happen to try and make trouble for her, all bets are off.

But in her experience, there isn't a league or a promotion that doesn't have the sharks and beasts that lurk, looking to catch another prey. And Rebecca would probably need to 'level up' to be able to face those beasts. She has to get better. While she thinks of other paths she could take, AJ had stars in her eyes by the mention of the Black Fang being a superhero. Hey eyes widen when the foreigner grabbed Ryoko by the sleeves, leaning back as she turns into a complete fan-girl. All while there is a loud clutter behind them, Rebecca could feel their eyes on her and the other two.

Never a dull moment it seems with this girl.

While AJ went to look up the legend that is Black Fang, Rebecca played damage control, making sure to say sorry to the other patrons and to the barista. That's probably two strikes they have. Turning round to face AJ. "
If you could do that without having us kicked out, that might be good..." She said in a hushed tone. Not that it mattered much to the Briton, the cookies were dry, something she wouldn't miss if they were kicked out but she would like her first hours of Tokyo to not be chased out by a couple of angry Japanese people. Good impressions and all that. She sighs before continuing. "Anyways, you probably would still need to train and prepare. Even if she isn't super skilled as Ryoko stated."

It was taking no small amount of self-concentration to keep Ryoko from geeking out right now and not giving it all away. She was squeeing so hard on the inside.

Was it, perhaps, a little sneaky to lead AJ and Rebecca on like this? Sure. But it came from a good place. She wanted to challenge AJ, and this was pretty much the only way to make it happen without begging management to set up the match or giving away her secret identity.  If the Black Fang came out and issued a challenge to a woman who hadn’t even fought in the league yet, it would be more than a little suspicious.

”Oh, well.” She chewed her lip for a moment, trying to think of some of her better matches. ”Her match against Mikki Wylde is a solid one - she didn’t win, but Mikki is this super-power, maybe the biggest in the AFW, and she really took it to her. Oh!”  She snapped her fingers, alerting more of the shop patrons. ”She took on Teddy Cat Hori, a former Wrestle Angel. Didn’t beat her, either, but still, took her to the limit.”

She popped out her phone, took a quick look at the time, then pushed away from the table to stand up. ”That should be a pretty good starting point, I think. I’d give you some more, but I need to…”

Train hard and get ready for your challenge.

”...study. Got an important test coming up soon.”

"Sorry, sorry." She puffed up her cheeks blowing out a long slender stream until they were deflated. "Well yeah, of course. The first step is doing some research. How am I suppose to know how to prepare unless I study up. You have to train the mind..." She grinned across at Rebecca, tapping the side of her head. "And the body." Alexa creaked back in her chair, rocking onto the rear legs as she motioned down at herself and what was not an imposing or prepared looking sight. It was hard to be intimidating in a ratty hoodie and jeans unless a knife was somehow involved.

"Mikki Wild and Teddy Cat Whorey. Got it." They sure had some strange names over here. The legs of her chair clacked to the floor as she planted herself again to return to navigating through the website in search for the matches in question They sure had some strange names over here. She glanced back to Ryoko, head tilting.

"Awww.. Alright. I'm not going to be responsible for you flunking out or anything. Oh... but hey, want to exchange info?" She began the ritual of patting herself down, feeling for her phone.Got'cha! She pinched the top wiggling it free. With a wave of the hand she brought up the display of the clock. Oh, wow. She was going to have to get going soon as well. Not before watching at least one of the recommended matches though.

"So we can keep in touch... and I might have some more questions. Wrestling or otherwise. Since you live here, I'm sure you know a bunch of the stuff around here."

She beamed hopefully over at Ryoko, holding up her phone to give it a little wave as she wiggled her brows.