A Decent Proposal

”Trying to.” That broke a small smile on her face, for some reason that she couldn’t quite explain. It was cute, frankly, though the distinction didn’t matter. The point was that it had all ended up with him on the floor, aching, while they just walked away and had dinner at the nearest fast food restaurant. Bones would break. His spirit might stay intact, but the same couldn’t be said for his body, and that was the more important thing for a wrestler.

It wasn’t remotely worth arguing, though, not with what he was saying next. The idea of ‘taking them out’ made her head cock to the side, as she tried to suss out his meaning. He seemed to have faulty ideas about how this was likely to go, and she had no qualms in educating him on that matter.

”Taking us out. If by that you mean, say, beating us in wrestling matches?” She shook her head. ”That’s not going to work. I can tell you right now, it doesn’t matter how many times you put Makoto’s shoulders on the mat, she’s just going to keep coming after. I don’t think you really comprehend how obsessed she’s gotten with grinding you into the dust.” Stone gave him a little poke in the chest. ”You’re her pet project.”

She crossed her arms when Makio finally asked the question she knew he wanted answered the most, the crux of the matter. Frustrating. Not because she didn’t know the answer, but because it wouldn’t be easy to explain. Might as well rip the band-aid off.

”There’s one way out of this, that I can see. One way to put an end to it.” Her eyes narrowed. “You need to take over the Valkyries.”

Stone was human. That was good to know. Even the faintest of smile showing up on her face was enough to cause him to grin a bit as well. He could have seen the both of them being friends if not for the dirty business of him apparently being marked for death. That had a way of drawing a hard line in the sand that held back any real development. It was a nice light note to the conversation that revolved around him being beaten up over and over. That end of things he wasn't particularly fond of.

He wasn't quite that naive as Stone was taking him for. While it was true, to her credit, he had been intending to settle things in the ring, it wasn't just with normal matches. He hadn't ironed it all out, but he was going to try and set up good old fashion stipulations to see himself freed form underneath the Valkyries death glare. He had no allusions to the fact it was going to be a long hard journey to get there, but he was always willing to put in the work.

Stone caught a reaction from him at the mention Makoto's devotion to wanting to put him down. Body swaying back lightly with the solid bump to his chest. A brow arching. "Pet project." He repeated incredulously. He wasn't sure if he should take the woman's interest in his destruction to be a compliment or an insult. While the gang leader had been on his mind quite a bit since their encounters, he certainly didn't consider it an obsession. She was a looming threat to his career after all. Nothing strange about that.

Before he asked Stone's opinion on the matter, not even sure she would offer one, she surprised him again. He eyed her curiously as she spoke. He almost choked on his on saliva, bringing a closed fist to his mouth as he choked, blinking at what she had to say. "What?" Was she joking? Take over a biker gang... an all girl biker gang? What even was this? He pressed a finger to his chest where Stone had thumped him with a finger, pressing down. He could feel the lingering prod. he wasn't dreaming. He gave the large woman an utter look of confusion, the most baffled she was likely to ever see him.

He considered asking her if she was joking... but he was being real here, Stone didn't look the type to joke unless it was dry wit from the back of a room. He took in a deep breath, handing up his hands as she walked through this out loud. "So... you want me, to join your gang and... what? Mutiny?" It was pretty clear he didn't have a fine grasp of how not only the Valkyries worked, but gangs in general. This poor sweet summer child.

Yes, that was more or less the response She was expecting. Maybe even better, since he had the decency not to laugh uproariously at her and at least give the idea something resembling consideration.

She kept her footing, made sure he saw how serious she was at the whole thing, never flinched an instant - on the outside. Inside, she was hoping it didn’t sound as crazy as it did in her head. There was a real part of her that was considering just walking away, but she’d come this far already, so…

”It’s not as crazy as it sounds.” She pushed off the tree and stood straight, staring right into his eyes. ”Look, before Mako came along, I was running the Valkyries. Before I came along, there was another guy. I beat him to take control. Mako beat me to take control. That’s the way it works - you want to lead? You step up, you make the challenge, the fight’s set up, and if you win? You lead. It’s a pecking order sort of thing.”

She stepped away from him, took a little walk to the side of the tree, assembling the ideas as she moved, trying to nail down the best way to explain. ”There doesn’t need to be a mutiny. You can lead...and not lead. Follow me.” She spun back his way and held out a hand. ”You beat Mako. You take over. But, at the same time, you make Mako your second-in-command. That way, she can let her do the day-to-day running, the little stuff, managing it, what she’s doing now...but you handle her. You can tell her to stop attacking people. You can tell her to back off the AFW. You can even use us for backup, if you ever get outnumbered by someone else. You can control the Valkyries as much as you want to.”

Stone sighed and ran a hand through her hair, getting some of her spiked hair clear and opening up her entire face. ”I know how it comes off, I know. If you’ve got better ideas, I’m open to hear them. As far as I can tell, though, this is the best shot you have at getting Mako off your back. Otherwise, she is going to ride you until you either die or leave the AFW.”

Makio found himself looking Stone up and down, trying to picture how someone like her could have lost to Makoto... Granted, the gang leader had given him quite a run for his money. While Stone was a large woman, the two of them weren't terrible dissimilar in terms of their builds. He was willing to bet she could still beat him in arm wrestling if it came down to it though. She was a solid wall... Stone. Right. That made more sense now.

He couldn't help but wonder what the current gang leader was like back then, to have the conviction to challenge someone like Stone without the aid of a bunch of thugs at her back. These days she was intimidating people out in parking lots. A bit of a step down. Was she a better person back then, or more of a terror? Regardless, it was a sobering thought that Stone had lost to her, it made the trials he had in the ring with her seem far more reasonable. Proof you should never count anyone out.

The plan wasn't as crazy as it sounded, she was right. It was a far more direct way to handle the problem... but not only for himself, for anyone else who would be coming into Tension. Still, there were a lot of moving parts involved in this, he doubted he could just walk up to Makoto as an outsider to just fight her mono a mono. Otherwise every Joe Blow would come at her like that. He couldn't help but feel he'd have to put something down on the line as well if he wanted to go through with usurping control of the Valkyries from Makoto. What if he lost?

He folded his arms once Stone was finished. The longer she spoke, the more he could feel something gnawing at the back of his brain.This sounded all too good to be true. Too convenient... but that wasn't the crux of the problem here.

"Why are you doing this?" Who was he to the Valkyries besides just some nobody that stood up to them. He needed to know, before he could even consider going through with this plan. She seemed to want to help him, even offering to hear other ideas. What was he to Stone by some guy she kicked around a ring? As a former leader of the gang herself, who lost her control, was she bitter? Was he being used as a tool for revenge? She didn't seem the sort, but he didn't know her, not really. Was Makoto a detriment to their gang? Not so much so that Stone hadn't wanted her gone. She even explained a convenient loophole to keep her in a seat of power. So why?

He let her finish without interrupting to tell her how crazy it all was. Another good sign, in her book.

When Stone was finished, she let her shoulders slump and remembered what it was like to take full breaths. Coming up with this plan, setting this meeting up, having the nerve to throw it all at him without knowing how it had worked - it had all taken a lot of nerve, more than she would’ve expected. She didn’t know what it said about her current life that she’d had less tense situations back in Iraq.

She wasn’t sure what his next question would be - the procedure, the timing, details he needed to know. That all sounded reasonable. What she hadn’t expected was for the question to get thrown right back at her. ‘Why was she doing this’? It was a fair question, but that didn’t mean she was eager to answer it.

Stone’s face hardened again and she moved to the side, looking away from him for a moment, before she snapped back his way. ”It...why does that matter?” She lost a bit of her edge with that sentence, but she was quick to reinstall it. Why did he have to be difficult about this? She was laying this all out for him, all he had to do was roll with it.

”I’m giving you the plan, it’s solid. If it gets Makoto off your back and keeps other people safe, what do my motivations matter?” She waved it off and moved to retake her spot on the tree, sincerely hoping he would take a hint and leave that line of inquiry alone.

Stone should have known better. She drew the comparison between the both of them after all being too stubborn and dead set to back down when their minds were made up. Surely she knew this would be coming. He didn't look as though he was backing down, especially not after Stone had shown a moment of hesitation. She wanted an end to this as much as he did.

Did he actually need her help though, to end things? He couldn't abide by taking her advice, going through with her plan, not so long as the two of them couldn't be honest with one another. If he was going to have to trust her, she'd have to do the same with him.

"You put your neck out to come talk to me." He rounded on her, walking up to where she reclined against the tree. He leaned in a bit to look her in the eyes even if she averted her gaze elsewhere. "Whatever this is..." He motioned between the two of them. "...means a lot to you. Maybe even more than it does to me. I won't do it unless I know why."

It didn't seem as though he was willing to budge on the topic. He always did what he felt was right. How was he suppose to know if it was without having an idea what her motivations were? Sure, she could lie to him, but could she do so convincingly? He wasn't sure she would even try though. if he had read the situation correctly, he had far more power in this plot then she was letting on due to her own involvement.

Ugh. Men. Stone had to deal with them directly so rarely that she could sometimes forget how persistent they could be and how much they sucked at taking a damn hint.

There was a moment, a golden moment, where she thought he might back off, but no - he just went on and pressed the matter all the more. Not that he was wrong. She was asking a lot out of him. They’d known each other, in total, five or so minutes, and half of that time had been with her trying to plant her boot in the middle of his face. Not the sort thing that engendered  a great deal of trust.

He was right to press. That didn't’ make it any less irritating.

Stone looked off to the side for a moment, before turning back his way with a leonine growl. Fine. It would feel good to get this out in the air, anyway.

”Maybe,” She slumped back against the tree and looked up, not needing to meet his gaze to do this. ”Maybe I’m just tired of the way we’re going all the time. Maybe I don’t enjoy beating up people in parking lots. Maybe I’d like Makoto to go down a better path and realize some of her potential. Maybe I’m trying to pull her out of this dark spiral that she’s gone down over the years, before she gets in too deep and does something really stupid. Maybe, maybe, maybe.” She gave him a light push, just to make a little more space between them. ”Multiple choice. Pick whichever one you like the most.”

Makio wasn't really sure what he had expected Stone's reasoning to be. It could have been just about anything. He was sure she wasn't lying though, if she was this was pretty convincing. It honestly brought up a few more questions in his mind regarding Stone and Makoto, but they didn't really pertain to this here and as he took a step back from her shove, he wasn't about to push his luck with more prying.

"Alright. I'll do it." It was simple as that. Their goals had not only aligned, but he found himself more invested. He hadn't thought of this as a means to help Makoto as well. Was that really possible? In the short conversation they had, he would have assumed she would simply be come bittered, maybe even harder.

It's true the girl had potential. He had seen that in the ring. She was just so violent, so angry. How did she actually enjoy herself other than taking it out on someone else? That wasn't a healthy way to live. The idea him of him seizing control of a biker gang could do so much good... It was something out of the movies.

What would his mother think? She likely wouldn't understand. What would Mr. Okada think? He... Would probably get a kick out of this. His manager was always looking for better ways to market him. He'd have to call him after this encounter.

"So what now? Is it as simple as calling her out and just telling her I am challenging for the Valkyries?" It sounded easy. A bit too easy. If he knew anything, it was that big changes never happened without making waves.

She visibly eased when Makio moved away from this line of questioning, dropping it before she had to pry anything else loose. It was a question she was having hard time asking herself. If she hated the way the Valkyries were going, she could always leave. She was young, still had good years in her. With DADT dead, she could go back to the military. Could try her hand at mercenary work. Something lucrative.

But she was here. This was the path she’d committed to, and she was following it all the way down the line. For better or worse.

So they were on the same page now, or at least in the same book. Good. This she could work with, and Makio helped by asking the question she wished he’d skipped to a minute ago: what next?

”I won’t lie, the rules are fairly fast and loose. I know Makoto - if you make a challenge, she’ll accept it, but there’s no telling what else she’ll throw in your way or how she’ll complicate things. So be ready.” She pushed off the wall and stepped forward, taking a slow walk back to her bike. ”On that note, I should point out that I’m not a good actor. If she tries to throw me at you, asks me to take you on, whatever? I will do it, and I won’t hold back. Clear?”

Makio slipped his hands into his pockets, finally in a state of ease with Stone, at least for now. Unlikely allies in the moment, a fact she was sure to clarify with him. She confirmed what he and been thinking to himself with possible threats thrown his way. Still, with Makoto it all came back to one thing he originally had tried to do.

Appeal to her pride.

He could easily see her doing something along the lines of what Stone said. The hope was the barriers wouldn't be too unreasonable if presented in front of so many watchful eyes. She'd have to save face in some regards. Last time she underestimated him so took the challenge head on. This time she knew what to expect. He couldn't blame her for trying to tip the scales.

Run the gauntlet, prove your worth. It was no different than shooting for a title opportunity really. A very bizarre title, but everything lined up. This was certainly the biggest prize he had ever gunned for on a stage of this magnitude.

"That's fine. I owe you a few kicks anyway." He cracked a boyish grin Stones way, an attempt to lighten the doom and gloom of the hanging proposition. He wouldn't want to to pull punches even if she offered. It wasn't his way. Hard work was the only path for him, he wouldn't settle for anything less.