Meet and Greet

Cicilia's attempts at that DDT went so far as to help Bubbles up to her feet before being thwarted quite handily at the execution. What a grave miscalculation to say the least. As Cicilia jerked back to plant the Virgin Killer in the mat like a vegetable, she was stopped dead by a powerful stomp from her entrapped foe, a maneuver that took out all the momentum that would've been channeled into her neck and head and pushing it into the floor through her legs instead. With Bubbles on her feet and painfully close, her attempt at a counter was really not that hard to pull off. Feeling the massive woman's massive arms wrap around her waist, the german boxer could only foresee what was coming next and brace herself to take it!

Cicilia let out a loud grunt as her back SLAMMED into the canvas with a powerful Northern Lights Suplex, letting out a cough as air was expelled out of her lungs due to the force! Her eyes shot open in shock as the pain now starting in her spine burned out across her ribs, surprised by how much that actually hurt. She... didn't expect that to hurt as much... Yeah, Bubbles was a Colossus but Cicilia was a juggernaut! She thought she could take at least a few hits like that before suffering this much damage! Clearly she was wrong.

She groaned in disgust, attempting to wrench her body to the side and tear herself out of the position the suplex had left her in, gritting her teeth with effort.

Mariah was only paying half attention to the match, but she devoted her full attention to it when she heard the tumultuous crash inside the ring, hitting with enough force to shake the room. Sure enough, she looked over to see Cicilia on her back, recovering from what she assumed was a Northern Lights Suplex based on the way Bubbles was positioned right afterwards. ”Hm.” She crossed her legs and sat back. ”That’s escalating quickly, wouldn’t you say?”

Bubbles was inclined to agree. The Northern Lights wasn’t one of her usual go-tos, since didn’t even have the flexibility to hold it properly after the hit, but she took pride in the damage she managed to deal in a short time. So far, things were going her way. Now, she just had to make sure the ball stayed in her court.

”All right, then…” Bubbles rolled over to her knees and reached over to grab Cicilia’s holding it tight between her hands like a basketball. With her grip locked in tight, she began to rise to her feet, forcing the German to come up for the ride, hauling her into a standing position whether she liked it or not.

Probably not, if she had to guess.

"Some examples would be welcome." She was sitting in one right now, the private ring in a back room made up like a party hall. She was hoping for something a big more personal as it related to her and her career though. She intended to be here, likely with the AFW for a long time. Now that her cost of living had drastically gone down while her and Cicilia lived together, she could afford to invest a bit more in her future. A manager seemed to be a step in the right direction, bonus points if it was one she liked, for instance Mariah here.

She wasn't sure what to expect coming into this. The evening had been one giant question mark and had this far blown her expectations away. She wasn't a hard sell, truth be told, the karaoke would have won her over alone... Which is why she needed a manager to keep herself from settling with a low bar. AFW was a business after all, if they could get away with taking advantage of their talent's lack of backbone or representation, they likely would do so without batting an eye.

Sayumi visibly jumped at the impact of the suplex, having been lost in the moment trying to present herself seriously to Mariah as if this were a job interview... Which it technically was. She turned to look back to the ring to find Cicilia down on the mat in a familiar position. While she hadn't taught the boxer that move yet, she knew the girl had seen it once before in the very least when she did it during one of their matches together.

Sayumi made a mental note to teach Cicilia some basic tips for blocking suplexes, the boxer was strongest on her feet. Hard to move when she was planted. No doubt a few things she knew that could help out her technique would come easy to her once they got down to it. Things already weren't looking good. Bubbles had years of wrestling experience behind her. She wasn't the type of woman you wanted to dictate the pace of a match, this much she knew. It wasn't as if the fact Bubbles was strong was a secret. The woman looked the role as much as she filled it. She wasn't sure if Cicilia had ever faced someone quite this large and powerful, she knew she certainly hadn't. Even if Cicilia could punch a hole in a wall, it wouldn't help her if she didn't get a moment to do that.

"Yeah..." She responded quietly to Mariah under her breath. Her eyes darted over the two, she wanted to help somehow. The boxer didn't have a massive repertoire of moves under her belt that weren't some variant of lift person, slam person down... there was one she had used once before, on her in fact in their last match that had taken her by surprise. There was a chance with Bubbles trying to pull her up it could serve Cicilia well again. Now just to get the message to her. "That move sure was bananas!" She was speaking loudly, seemingly to Mariah but was easily projecting loud enough to the two women in the ring. "Pretty sure people would flip to see that live!" She was trying at least.

Cicilia grunted in pain as Bubbles dug her fingers deep into her hair, grabbing a handful before forcing the Juggernaut up to her feet. Despite how it felt like her scalp was being ripped off, she couldn't help but smile... Whether Bubbles knew or cared, up close and personal like this plus being on her feet made for Bubbles just helping her get into a favorable punching position! She cocked her fists back, ready to unleash a flurry of blows to the American titan...

Cicilia nearly halted her plan of attack as Sayumi began YELLING something, obviously trying to get some kind of point across. Specifically, something about bananas and flipping... Were she not fighting someone like Bubbles, she might've been able to decipher whatever she was trying to say! At this moment in time, though, her lover's drop-dead obvious advice on what to do completely flew over her head. And hey... Maybe it'd distract the American! Stepping in to that pull Bubbles had on her and ignoring the ripping at her scalp, Cicilia brought a fist up in a CRUSHING uppercut towards the massive woman's abs, followed by a hook to her ribs and an Elbow to her jaw, hopefully doing enough to undo that iron grip in her hair!

It was only after she began her assault did Cicilia begin to realize just what Sayumi was trying to signal, bringing a little humorous smile to her lips. Trying to help her so obviously... That was just the funniest thing Sayumi had DONE all day! It was like something out of the children's cartoons she never got to watch as a child and only heard about... Ah, just for trying, Sayumi earned another long, beautiful kiss...

”Certainly.” Mariah steepled her fingers and thought of the best way to lay out her example without sounding too impressed by her own skill. That was the balancing act, here - selling herself, without sounding like she was hooked on her own importance. Even if she was. A little.

”I suppose the best example would be how Bubbles and I came to the AFW.” She tilted her head towards the ring, a slight nod at her wife. ”Bubbles had been considering it for a while, wanting to try out a market that would be more open to her style than most American ones. Hentai wrestling is starting to take a hold over there, but it’s still nowhere close to the acceptance in Japan.” She shook her head, thinking of some bad memories. Boycotts, petitions, frivolous lawsuits. Nothing to bring up now.

”So we got in touch, faxed the paperwork over, started the process. But they wanted to start Bubbles off standard, work with her like most of their American exports. One of our friends, Valley Doll, had come in under a similar deal, and while she’s doing great now, she was underutilized at the start. She deserved better, Bubbles deserved better.” Mariah held up a finger and wagged it Sayumi’s way. ”So, I went into negotiations. I also let some rumors circulate about Bubbles signing with the AFW, to generate hype and put pressure on them to make a deal, showing them that they’d make some inroads with the American market, and-”

Mariah had been getting on a roll, but she was abruptly interrupted by the sound of thudding punches in the ring. Before she even looked, she knew what was going on Cicilia had taken the offensive.

The blow to Bubbles gut was enough to stun her, leaving her wide open to the rib shot and its followup, an uppercut that left her skull rattled. The Virgin Killer found herself stumbling away now, arms flailing as she staggered, trying hard to keep herself steady. While it wasn’t anything she wasn’t able to withstand, the sheer surprise of the strikes left her reeling, and she would need a moment to recoup. A moment where so many things could happen.

Cicilia wouldn't give a monster like Bubbles time to recover, her recoil being met with the advance of a war machine equally deadly. With the american's recoil, the Juggernaut made her move. She charged ahead, head tucked and arms held tightly against her chest to guard that and her head in case Bubbles made a wild counter strike, careful of any oncoming blows that could slow her at a distance. Bubbles did have the superior range, this much was obvious. Her height gave her the ability to reach out like a giant and grab the boxer, making her a HUGE threat at a distance. She wasn't a slouch up close either as she proved a second ago... but if Cicilia being close made it harder for the Virgin killer to respond, then ALL the better!

Falling back (if predictibly) on her boxing roots, the german would swing her arm up in a BRUTAL uppercut to the underside of Bubbles' chin, intent on snapping her skull back and rock her and send her stumbling back again! Not one willing to lose the high-ground, she would push herself even closer, this time swinging both arms around to SLAM into either side of the giantess' head, her palms slamming into her ears in an attempt to leave her confused and disoriented with a MIGHTY clap of sound! And ending her typical combo of 3, the Juggernaut would actually step back, raising her leg at the same time to SLAM Bubbles's chin AGAIN with a MONSTER High-Kick, a move she's not yet revealed!

She intended on saving this for a certain special someone... but Bubbles was enough of a tank for it... It would certainly put her Train-Wrecker Punch to shame, given how much strength she could put out with it quickly! It wasn't as strong as her full punch... but it was close. And it was quick. If Bubbles could take a hit like that... She deserved to win!... Not that she'd forfeit.

Yep, that was a big ‘nope’ on Bubbles getting time to recover. Cicilia, as it turned out, wasn’t nearly that stupid.

She was quick to close the gap, moving well within Bubbles’ range as she prepared her counterattack. The Virgin Killer swung an errant punch and caught nothing but air, not that it would’ve done much if it had landed. For her troubles, she wound up taking a flurry of bruising blows.- a crushing blow to the chin, one that left her dazed, too dazed to deal with the follow up, as Cicilia’s hands slammed in a pincer on her skull. It was a harsh shot, one that played havoc with her equilibrium, but in a strange sense it helped.

It made Bubbles angry. As angry as she was capable of getting in a match. Angry Bubbles was a clearer thinker, and she had just enough wherewithal to read Cicilia when she stepped back.

The kick came her way, and Bubbles ducked down with little space to spare, letting it pass overhead. She rose up under the Juggernaut, grabbing her by the leg before could bring it down again, and lifted her up from below, holding her up high on her shoulder.

For one, crazy second, the Virgin Killer held Cicilia in the air, getting the maximum height, before she fell forward and slammed her into the canvas with a makeshift powerbomb.

Sayumi stared at the ring, letting out a soft sigh of relief as Cicilia managed to pull things back, for the time being. She followed that wit a cringe, recalling what it actually felt like to be hit with one of those punches. It had been awhile now since the last time Cicilia had dug one of her fists into her. Even their last match, the girl hadn't relied too heavily on her boxing roots likely to spare her the devastation it brought. She was thankful for that. It had been a concern early on if Cicilia could control her anger as it related to them as a couple... and she had been proving she could. There was always the worry though that she was taking all of that out elsewhere. The boxer tended to return from the gym battered some days. She hadn't pressed why very often. Sometimes Cicilia would tell her it was a spar, other times she wouldn't really comment.

She pulled her attention away from the in ring action, scooting her chair slightly to better face Mariah. She couldn't get distracted by every single thing that was happening in the ring. She just found herself getting far too invested in wanting to help. Cicilia was a big girl. She could handle herself fine, Sayumi was just being overprotective. Slipping out a small folder from inside her binder out, she slid it across the table to Mariah. Inside was her current contract, or at least a copy of it neatly stapled to be presented. It was a fairly bare bones agreement, one likely not uncommon for a nobody hire to AFW. All in all, a pretty unimpressive deal considering the workrate of moth of the people on the promotion's roster.

"I'd like your thoughts, on what you might be able to do with this." On contract itself seemed to be short term. Most new hires for no namers tended to be due to the turnover rate for the company. As such, a contract review would likely be coming up soon. This would be a prime time to have someone in her corner to sweeten the deal.

Cicilia rose her leg to SMASH into Bubbles' chin and send her crashing to the floor... Only for the titan to duck under at the last minute, catching it on her shoulder and leaving the boxer in a very awkward position. She hopped on her one foot  in an attempt to keep herself from falling over! Damn it! Caught again! How did this keep happening!? Bah! She wasn't going to get thrown to the mat again if she could help it... And right now she could help it. For Cicilia had her other leg free... And Bubbles looked mad. Almost as mad as Cicilia did after that suplex she took. If she could use that... catch her by surprise using the bull-headedness that came with anger... The american rose to her full height and the moment Cicilia felt like she was going to lose her grip on the ground complete, that was when she struck! Jumping up with her one free leg, Cicilia swung her lower body around, throwing her leg up as to strike The virgin killer in the side of the head! Her movement was... unrefined to say the least, but functional and would do quite a bit of damage it it managed to hit! Hopefully Bubbles' guard was down after she caught the Juggernaut in her trap... That would make her counter all the more painful.

She both had to respect and HATE Bubbles for forcing her to fight like this, making her use more tricks outside of her comfort zone. Grappling, drop-kicks and now this move, she was very quickly running out of secret weapons to use later in their fight! She couldn't tell if it was more important to seize the advantage in the early to late game but as of this moment, her opponent wasn't giving her much of a choice.

Mariah felt she would have a fairly good idea what Sayumi’s contract would say before she even took one look at the ink, but she brought it over for a gander, anyway, giving it a nice, long look. ‘Long’ being a relative term, of course. Her eyes scanned the document with practiced speed, darting about, back and forth and back and forth. Her mind worked in overtime, and after a few moments she’d already started to get a good sense of where things were going.

As she did, Cecilia and Bubbles were going hammer and tongs back in the ring, with the Virgin Killer looking to come out on top of things. She had her foe high and tight, was ready to drop her forward and slam her hard into the mat, but that was when things got a little fuzzy.

With surprising agility, Cicilia whipped about and struck the side of her head, ringing her bell pretty hard. Bubbles fell to a knee, shaking her head, stunned. If Cicilia was looking for an opening, she’d made one

As they continued to tussle, Mariah looked up from her reading, coming along the last bits. ”I could do a lot of things, but it really comes down to what you want.” She flicked a few errant hairs out of her face. ”What are you looking to accomplish? Do you just want more money, do you want to be a bigger media presence, do you want to try for a belt?”