Tokyo is Gorgeous on Winter Evenings

Jessica fucking hated the winter evenings of Tokyo. She had become quite accustomed to snow, but that was not to say that she did not hate it. Flurries was falling, and the wind was blowing, and Jessica was in a truly foul mood. There were about a million places that she would rather be right now, but she understood the importance of cardio. Going the distance in all of the fucked up matches that she did required impressive amounts of stamina, and that was something that she needed to work on. She had the strength to match up with anyone. It was only a question of how long she could bring that strength to bear.

The Violent Violet was wearing black sweatpants, a bright red sweatshirt, and a black hat. Warning coloration. Jessica had done it on purpose, to show that she really did not want to be fucked with. She could have been at the bar right now, pounding beers like it was the end of the world. But she wasn't. She was here, where the weather hurt her face. Where the sound of her running shoes made an annoying crunch sound with every footfall. Where she was decidedly not drunk, not even a little bit.

Jessica knew the path. After all, her apartment literally overlooked this park. She was the only one here at this time of night, and for good reason. This was not exactly the best part of Tokyo, and it was absolute lunacy to be running in this weather. The crunch crunch crunch of her boots formed a trail over time, one that she alone was destined to follow. Her blood was pumping so much that she was considering taking her gloves off.

But she didn't. She balled her gloved fingers into fists, and dug in that bit more. There was only so much longer to go. One more mile. One more sprint at the end of it. The park was fairly small, and the whole place was bathed in light. If someone was looking down at her from their window, they would probably think that Jessica was absolutely crazy. That wasn't so far from the truth. What they might not see was the belt in front of her, only a few feet from her face.

Jessica saw it. That was why she kept running.

Compared to who this woman was in the ring, out here she was little more than a shade of herself. Without the lights, the jeering and the graciously supplied fresh meat thrown at her feet from the AFW roster, she was just a woman. A strange solitary woman. It wasn't unique for her to wander the darkened cities in which she inhabited. Finding small nooks and crannies tucked off the beaten path to just observe the day to day of normal people. Boring people. Despite their obvious lack of purpose, she struggled to grasp what made people other than herself tick. It all seemed very small, very empty, though in truth that was just her. Hollow when left to her own devices. She was never alone though.

In the crisp night air she had found a worn bench and claimed it for her own. Her clothing spoke to expensive tastes, but they weren't her own taste. She was bundled up, a bit too much. Over prepared for a cold evening that paled in comparison to what she was use to from back home. A long black coat lined with a deep brown faux fur at the cuffs and collar, which opened into a hood which she wore draped over her head. With a few fashionable leather strap serving as mere decoration it could have easily been mistaken as a bizarre mix of modern fashion and dressings from something akin to Game of Thrones. Long gray lacks which were swallowed up at the knee by black leather boots adorned with far too many buckles. Had they all actually been used to secure the footwear, it wouldn't have been worth it. As it stood however, all of them were merely for show, the trick was a small hard to see zipper along the length of the calf.

She mere wore what was presented to her. Dressing herself was a chore. She could claim to have greater things to care about, but that was a lie. She had no real obligation, nothing to worry on, she had nearly everything she wanted set before her. Perhaps that was why she failed to find meaning in anything. The only struggles she faced were those imposed upon her by herself. It's what made things real, made her feel alive.

Upon her lap sat Baby, a small strange creature crafted from leather cloth, stuffing and the odd few weights lovingly inserted beneath the folds of its body. A sturdy hand crafted thing, to most it was ugly, some horribly misshapen dead eyed doll which resembled more of a tiny corpse than a plaything. It had been with her from a young age, and while Baby had gone from a few transformative phases to become the bludgeoning companion they were today, she held firm to the fact she and it were bond. Inseparable friends. Her sole confidant. Her fingers barely visibly through the fuzzy cuffs of her coat idly scratched as his belly as she stared into the distant, buildings beyond the edge of the park. She had been able to make out movements even at this distance and had been piecing together stories to fill in the blanks.

Her head turned slightly, sunken eyes shifting down the nearby path she was seated beside. The sound of crunching gravel and heavy footfalls. She hadn't seen another soul in the park all evening. Perhaps it was by design. She breathed out in a long huff, her breath turning to mist against the cool sky. He slowly sat up, a small cluster of misshapen battered plushies which dangled on a chain from beneath her coat jingled softly as they swung suspended in a state of constant torment.

Jessica saw something moving out of her peripheral vision. She pushed this ghost to the side. The Violent Violet had her eye on the prize. One more step. One more lap. One more mile to go. Whoever this person was, if it was a person, all they were was a distraction. Jessica kept pumping her arms as her legs churned. The wind buffeted her face, and her appearance was now fully a bright red, from both the temperature and her exertion.

The Violent Violet rounded the corner, and nearly stopped right there. The sight she was seeing was entirely unexpected, as if some fairy had visited her. Even for an Iowan girl in Japan, this was unusual. A woman was now sitting on the bench in garb that was appropriate for the weather, but little else. The fur of the collar and the cuffs made nearly as big of an impression upon her as the hood did. Those leather boots were quite grand, she thought. But those were all far from the strangest thing she had seen associated with this interloper.

That would be the strange doll. Jessica idly wondered if she had wandered into some weird sex or religious thing. In all her time doing things in this park, she had never seen this visitor before, and she was starting to think that some of the blood that was pumping throughout her body ought to find its way back to her head, because she was seeing things. Jessica rubbed her eyes as she ran. No, this woman was very much real.

Jessica's powerful footfalls slowed, and then stopped. She was bent over, and breathing hard. Soon, she straightened up, but the massive falls and rises of her chest were still as powerful as they were only moments ago. Her purple eyes focused on the girl sitting on the bench.

"Nice," her voice had been robbed of its strength due to the harsh brumal air and how hard she had been running, and her words were punctuated by deep breaths, "doll, did, your, mommy, make, it?" Jessica finally got all of the words out, and smiled a wicked smile. Running was difficult. Starting a fight for little reason was fun.

Seren's attention had been drawn to Jessica from a distance, perhaps it was the way she carried herself or something about her outward appearance. Her head slowly turned to keep the stranger in her unblinking sights. The light cast on her from a nearby lamp did  little to illuminate her shaded features beneath her hood save for her mouth. Gentle strokes upon the belly of Baby slowed to a stop along with the woman, the moment souring between them before it had even begun. Why did she stop? The doll maker who had been lazily lounging now slowly shifted back straightening as she posed herself upright on the bench. The chain gang of plushies hanging from a thin glinting chain dangled ominously.

Depending on how familiar Jessica was with the AFW locker room, one of the plushies muddied on the chain was Allison Heart, the ridiculously large curly blond locks were a clear give away. It looked to be the newest addition of the ones attached together, the others had been sewn back together so many times they looked like frankenstein's monster.

Seren blow out a long stream of misty breath, curtly responding to the question which didn't really need answering. "No." Her sunken eyes flicked down to Baby as her head bobbed, nodding along. He wasn't a fan of Jessica. She could agree, the woman hadn't put her best food forward. As she peered back up at the woman, she knew that look. Her eyes narrowed as her imagination took her on a flight of fancy in which she bloodied the stone at their feet by raking her smug smile through the gravel. The corners of her mouth twitched, lips curling into a small smirk.

"A bit late to be out alone." The statement in itself was simple but there was something off. There was a subtle twinge of a threat in her tone, clearly she hadn't taken kindly to Jessica's attempted jab her her handiwork. She didn't need to spell it out, the looming violence seemed to drip into her words.

Jessica saw the chain blow in the wind. There was one with blonde locks. It seemed like some weird sort of voodoo doll to her, and Jessica really had no idea of what to make of this woman's appearance. The way the head of the doll moved was rather strange, and the woman seemed to have additional plushies. This was definitely either some weird sex thing or some weird religious thing, she thought. It just had to be.

And now the woman was handing out threats. Perhaps her frame was not obvious with the sweats, but Jessica was aware of how formidable she was. If she had to let this woman know, she had no problem with that. She put her hands on her hips, and felt her breathing slow. Perhaps it was a bad idea to get into fight mode shortly after she had been running for so long, but this was not the first bad decision that Jessica had ever made in her life. Judging from her demeanor, personality, and penchant for violence, this was not going to be her last, either.

"Funny that you say that, because here I was thinking that it was not quite late enough. After all, children," she gestured to the doll, "are out on the street while there are very bad people about." Jessica planted her hand on her hip. She tilted her head to the side. The wind whipped some flurries up, but her sweat caused her short purple hair to cling to her face. Her sweats billowed in the wind, however.

Jessica stood rock solid. The ball was in this woman's court now. If she wanted violence, Jessica was happy to give it to her. If she wanted a war of words, Jessica had a quick wit and few inhibitions. If she wanted sex, Jessica would be delighted to see the evening through, on her terms of course. But all of that depended on what this woman was about to say or do next. Instinctually, Jessica widened her stance a bit. This woman seemed capable of anything, and Jessica was not about to be caught off guard.

This is why she couldn't have nice things. A short uneven name scratched gently under the misshapen plushie's chin as her attention was drawn down to it. "What do you think?" Her head bobbed, features guarded from view. "Hmm? ...Oh." Her head slowly turned back towards Jessica. Her legs stiffened as she pulled herself up, rising bizarrely without the use of her arms as she cradled the weighted plaything in her arms, rocking it gently. She tilted her head slightly, the lights overhead shining down into her enough to display her pearlie white teeth laid bare in on display in a wide grin. "He doesn't appreciate your tone... And would like an apology." The chain at her hip jingled pleasantly in the wind, providing stark contrast between the building tension between the two.

She stepped from the bench, half turning to peer at Jessica through the brown speckled fax fur of her hood, sunken dead eyes transfixed in waiting for something to give. She had made a statement, but there was no mistaking her tone implied it was an ultimatum. Of all the chance encounters in the dead of night, what really were the odd in these two volatile personalities meeting. It was almost as if the counter had been penned by a twisted mind beyond either woman's comprehension. Her slender digits curled around one of Baby's arms, bringing her precious companion to hand ragged at her side. It hung heavy, visibly off from something that should be filled with stuffing.

The doll maker stood, waiting expectantly as one of her boots slid along the gravel, a clear indication she had staggered her footing in the immediate case the "request" wasn't honored.

Jessica stared into the woman in front of her. Had she been a lesser woman, she would have withered under the intense look of the woman before her. Her eyes formed ink wells that were as dark and infinite as the night sky far above her, and the girl on the bench had a deep sense of foreboding to her. This woman did not seem to have the cheeriest sense of humor, as evinced by her growl. It was quite odd that the woman did not use her arms to get up. That must have meant that the woman had quite a lot of leg strength. Perhaps Jessica would be testing it soon.

But first, she was going to have some fun. "Listen. You got off on the wrong foot. I am a nice gal, promise. Good ole' home grown girl from Iowa. And I am willing to let bygones be bygones. You can trust me," Jessica lied, "see, I will let you know my name. Jessica. Jessica Wright. From AFW. You probably know me. A lot of people do." Jessica's breathing had returned to normal now, and she was standing up totally straight. "Tell you what. I will overlook the whole 'Halloween cometh' vibes that you fucking love to give off with your just baring your teeth thing." Jessica used exaggerated air quotes and a mocking tone. "See, why don't you chill the fuck out, and hand me your little uh, doll," Jessica was genuinely at a loss for words, "And I can hug him and apologize."

Jessica extended a hand and the biggest crocodile grin she could. She brought her legs a bit together, to feint that she was not such a threat. If this woman gave her the doll, Jessica was going to see how far she could punt it. Given how strong her legs were, that would be quite the distance. But first, this clearly somewhat psychotic woman would have to play along. Jessica was peering deep into this woman's face, trying to guess her intentions. That crocodile grin did not once waver.

Seren hadn't moved much at all. Had it not been for the visible trail her breath left in the breeze someone might have assumed she was a rather convincing statue rather than a person. This woman was talking an awful lot, and none of it sounded remotely like an apology. Was it an unreasonable request? Did it even matter? She stared long and hard at Jessica as her words slowly devolved into hollow animal like grunts in her mind, both were equally devoid of meaning. They knew this tone, this poison laden tone. All her life she had been faced with people who buried the truth behind sweet lies. It was revolting. She never understood the point of it all.

"Jessica Wright?" It seemed she had caught something of interest in the dribble that had been poured out at her feet. Her head tilted slightly as she stared for long moment, eyes flicking between the woman's face and her outstretched hand. She nodded slowly to seemingly nothing. Her fingers clenched around Baby's arm as she lifted the plushie slightly. "My name is Seren... You're right, let's get this off on the right foot."

She slide forward, dragging the side of her foot deep through the pathway collecting as much of it as she could along her boot. With a swift soccer kick she had thrown a plume of gravel and who knew what other particles lined the path towards Jessica's face in an effort to blind the woman.  No time was wasted on waiting for a reaction, she was already out for blood. The doll maker moved in on the woman, brandishing Baby like a weapon, because the doll was one. Baby's body had long ago had its stuffing removed  to be replaced by heavy lead weights making the unfortunate plaything into a lethal morning star. She brought the plushie around in a violent arch aiming for the woman's face through the dissipating cloud of debris. She didn't want to simple wipe this grin off of Jessica's face, she wanted to tear it off entirely.

Right foot. Gravel kicking attack. Very clever. The debris flew up into her face, and made her cry out into the Tokyo night. Her big purple eyes were now closed to the world, and Jessica was stumbling backwards. She did not see the second attack coming. Something that was very hard clocked her right in the side of the head and Jessica stumbled even more. The only thing that kept her upright was her hand going down to the ground and some agile footwork.

Jessica peered at this woman, Seren, through narrowed eyes. The gravel, the wind, and the black rage she had going through her all conspired to narrow her bright purple eyes. The Violent Violet stood all the way up now, and truly looked at the woman. They were about the same height, close to each other in weight, and very similar in many respects. The only difference being, Jessica did not have that fucking doll. That must have been the thing that hit her. Jessica realized that this weapon, as strange as it was, was going to give Seren a massive advantage if she let it. If Jessica wanted to win this little tussle, she was going to have to close this gap, and close it quickly.

Luckily, her heart did not stop racing. Half-blind and full-furious, Jessica dashed forward, hoping to catch the woman off guard. She tried to get in nice and personal. From there, she could wrap her arms around the woman, and then twist and throw her right into the gravel that she had just kicked into Jessica's face. It would not be a true tit for tat, but Jessica did not really mind. She could get that later, and over time.

Seren has swung wide, following through with baby as if she were swinging towards the stands. Her hand back up to meet baby as it lingered overhead mid swing, with both hands she brought the doll down attempting to end Jessica's existence with a crippling strike. Her attempt to follow through with the doll for a second blow narrowly missed as Jessica scrambled back, fumbling along the gravel. The doll maker wasn't known for giving quarter to those she marked, Jessica was no exception to this. Recovering from he second swing had given the purple haired woman time to right herself, but Seren was already charging, more than happy to help barrel through the thick fog of tension between them for another chance to sink her teeth into the stranger... possibly literally? It was hard to tell with her.

Getting in close wouldn't be an issue as both women seemed to want it. She came in hot, tucking back her arm back before releasing. Her elbow flew out like a shotgun blast point blank, trying to catch the purple hair woman under the chin, possibly even her throat. The intent of the blow was nothing short of seeking to hurt this woman. Her other arm reared back, Baby in hand. preparing to bring forth another devastating blow with her cuddle cudgel.

Jessica's arms hooked around her body snugly, she hadn't tried to avoid it opting instead to blitz the woman down rather than preserve her own well being. Her body snapped backwards, cutting off her efforts to swing Baby again as she was slammed into the gravel with a sickening crunch. She bounced on impact, back arching at the sting. A plumb of misty air billowed from her mouth like flames from the maw of a great dragon as sir left her lungs.

Her wild eyes snapped to Jessica as the light shined down into her hood. Half of her face was stained off color, in contrast to her pale complexion. The pinkish red wound on the mend looked as if someone had dragged her face along the ground... probability because they had. In the fall she had lost Baby, the weighed plush had tumbled out of her grasp to rest below the bench. Even breathless and grounded she seemed to keep her wits about her, it was just a new position in which to inflict herself upon this woman. Her boot snapped out at Jessica's left knee in retaliation. Her blows had no discretion behind them, the malicious nature of each one painting a very clear picture of who she was here and now. What she was? That was a harder question to answer.