Brie Schuhart vs. Zoey Jae Oh - Small Beginnings

She needed this win. She needed it so goddamn bad.

Under normal circumstances, Zoey couldn’t give less than a shit about what some number on a board said about her performance. But after these last couple of matches, even she had to admit that a win would go a long way in getting her head back in the game. After that blowout match with Eirina Makishima that ended in a way she’d prefer not to remember, in public at least, the utter destruction that came in her next with that fiery bitch Camilia ended up being the shortest, most one-sided fight of her career.

She was getting diminishing returns. If she was going to turn this around, she needed to do it now.

Fuck kind of a name was Brie, anyway? That was the only question she had after her few minutes of Google searching gave her zilch. It looked promising on the surface at least. She was up against another newbie this time. New blood tended to lose more often than they won on their first outing, so she had that going for her. But then again, after her match with Camilia, Zoey could safely say that being a rookie had nothing to do with anything. You were strong or you weren’t.

That was the mindset Zoey kept in her head as she stood at the gorilla position, and the stagehand gave her the thumbs up. There weren’t going to be any grand, sweeping gestures tonight. No strong words to let her opponent know what they should be expecting. When the TKD chick’s music came blaring in and across the stadium, she came out from behind the curtain like a woman on the mission. She stomped her way down the ramp and towards the ring, never taking her eyes off of it for a second.

She climbed up the edge of the apron and leaped up and over the top rope. Landing squarely on her two feet, she brushed some hair away from her eyes before making her way to the center of the ring. Turning on the spot, she threw a fist into the air for the crowd, who showered her with the expected round of cheers. For some reason, Zoey could feel as though they weren’t all for the hope that she would win this fight.

Fuck ‘em.

Zoey kept her face solid, furrowing her brows as she made her way to her corner and began with some pre-match stretches. She swayed from side to side as she stretched out her shoulders, trying to psyche herself up.

“On a cold winter morning. In the time before the light…”

It was Brie's debut evening. She thought her training had hardened her to tense atmospheres, yet standing near the entrance dampened her eagerness slightly. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm herself down. The anticipation was not only in Brie, but it could be felt throughout the stadium. Despite this factor, Brie knew this was what she wanted to do, having watched wrestling since she was in elementary school. Due to her small size, it seemed impossible to fathom that Brie would make it this far, yet there she was, about to experience what most people could only dream of accomplishing.

Brie wasn't told much about her opponent. She knew that the woman was not a Kawaii, but a fighter in the original Friction roster. The league could not find an opponent within her division since every other wrestler was fighting or going through their own contract negotiations. Brie also knew her opponent's name: "Zoey Jae Oh." Not Japanese, but someone from another country—just like her. Her opponent's description didn't scare her as much as it could have. Under-performing scared her much more. There was also a wager that she agreed to, though she could only suspect that the league proposed the idea to make things more interesting. The loser of this match would need to serve the winner and fulfill all of their demands for one day. Brie did not want that to conclude her first match, which added a bit more pressure.

After some time waiting backstage, she was advised that it was time to enter the arena. Brie flipped her suit's hood over her head and—with one stuffed bunny rabbit in tow—took a step forward before an uncharacteristically lighthearted theme played.

That's my entrance music? Ugh…

Brie was disappointed, but she continued on anyway. She couldn't avoid eye contact with the crowd, even with the hood she was wearing. Seeing so many screaming people in one place would normally fill her with alarm, however she couldn't help but smile. As a kind gesture, she threw the stuffed rabbit into one of the sections, where people scrambled to grab and claim it for themselves.

Brie then entered the ring, not paying attention. Her opponent was noticeably taller, dwarfing the tiny wrestler by nine inches. In the back of her mind, Brie was slightly more intimidated than she initially was. However, she tried not to show it. She removed her hood, revealing her medium-length blonde hair and stepped toward Zoey, extending her arm for a sportsmanlike handshake.

"Hi. You must be Zoey. My name is Brie. I wasn't expecting to fight someone so tall...but I'm glad to be here! I hope you can entertain me," the girl said with a grin.

She normally wouldn't try to be this friendly with someone, but first impressions were important to her. But would it matter to Zoey? Brie hoped so!

Um…

What?

Zoey found herself in a bit of rapid blinking fit as she watched her opponent descend the ramp. At least, she thought this was her opponent, but she could easily see this being some kind of joke at her expense upon reflection. And, somehow, she didn’t think she was the only one who was thinking that way.

The music probably should have been the first warning. Those cheerful piano notes didn’t exactly spell out “foreboding” in her mind, even less when she actually saw the person the theme belonged to. Zoey could have sworn that the very first paragraph of her contract specified in very clear, bold lettering that anyone on the roster had to be at least eighteen years or older. So...what exactly was she looking at here?

Cute. She had to admit that. Reminded her of one of her cousins back home. Think he was just giving up the Superman pajamas before her left. Wrestler, though? No. Not even close. Didn’t even have the outfit. Just a slightly baggy hoodie, some rosy cheeks and...was that a teddy bear? A fuckin’ teddy bear? She saw it sail into the air and into a sea of incredibly creepy hands that went to grab for it, bouncing it up and down the crowd of onlookers and, yup, that was a goddamn teddy bear.

It only worsened the perplexed look on her face as her attention came back to Brie, watching her enter the ring and take her hood down as she met Zoey in the center. Well...she was nice at least. She knew Zoey’s name. That was a bigger courtesy than half her opponent's bothered with. Guess mommy taught her those manners. She was still waiting for that other, real opponent to show up, but that didn’t seem to be happening. This was happening.

She took Brie’s hand and shook it, having to lean forward a bit to do so.

“I’m...actually pretty average. But, uh, yeah. Good meeting you.”

All of a sudden, after the handshake broke and she was just left staring at this child-sized question mark in front of her, the stipulation of the match came back to her. Oh. Was this management’s way of making up for all the fuck ups? Giving her a little bootlicker to keep around for a while? Nice of them but they could have gone with someone who...didn’t look like their mom just dropped them off and told them she’d be back in an hour. She’d have been fine with someone her height, someone who looked like they could pull their own weight.

But hey, win’s a win.

“Don’t worry, kiddo.” She said, her face brightening a bit, bouncing from one heel to the next as the official went over the rules. “I’ll have you out of here in time for recess.”

Deep inside, a wave of relief washed over her. Zoey was not hateful in any way, shape, or form based on her expressiveness and receptiveness to Brie's overall greeting and appearance. But then came the comment. "Recess." Only school children have recess. Brie quickly realized that Zoey was calling her a kid. It should have been expected, due to her size, but Brie felt a piece of her (rather reserved) ego chip away after that statement. The grin went away. "Oh," she replied meekly.

Maybe she likes taking pot shots at others?

It made sense. Zoey seemed friendly enough, but there was no malice behind her statements that could be interpreted. Brie could also appreciate this if it was the case. So Brie decided to fire back with some of her own retorts while she still could. After the referee explained the rules, she did just that at the risk of angering her opponent.

"As far as I'm concerned, I'm already in recess," Brie said as her lips curled into a wry, mocking smile. She then began walking to her corner of the ring. As she began to walk away, she looked back at Zoey and continued: "You are my 'play mate' and this is our playground. You could even become a ball for me to kick around after this is over," she said with a wink. To be fair, Brie only had a small idea of what she'd do with Zoey if she actually did win this match. But she didn't have to admit this to her opponent.

After all of this, Brie waited for the bell to ring. The moment of truth would arrive in just seconds…

Okay. On reflection, she could work with this.

Once she got over the shock factor as just seeing who she was up against, - which was still kinda hard to believe - Zoey came back to the fact that this was still a match. A match against a kid. On paper, yeah, didn’t really speak volumes about her ability as a fighter, but she could win. In fact, she could win easy. Just kick her down, put her arm behind her back, she gives up, match over. Boom. A nice, shiny numero uno for the playbook.

Yeah, this would work just fine. Although, Brie didn’t seem to sweat it much.

Don’t think Zoey had ever met a kid this snarky. Not even herself when she was one. There was a second there when it looked like she was gonna go silent, but came back in force with a huge smile on her face and plenty of big words to accompany it. She barely even looked at Zoey as she said them. Just strolled back to her corner. Cool as a cat and waited for the bell.

Did Zoey take offense? Not really, no. It was pretty clever dribble for a twerp. Didn’t mean she was letting it slip, though.

“We’ll see who kicks who, runt.” She said, looking over her shoulder and furrowing her brows.

Zoey didn’t go back to her corner. She just went and stood on the opposite end of the ring, leaning forward slightly and keeping a close eye on her opponent. The instant the bell rang, Zoey would bolt towards the other side of the ring, running straight at Brie like a linebacker before bringing her foot back.

“See ya!”

Zoey would throw her leg forward, going to punt Brie like a child-sized football straight out of the ring, over the audience, and clear out of the arena all the way back to kindergarten.

The bell rang. Before Brie could even take a fighting stance, her opponent had already taken a sprint. Frozen in her steps, she was caught off guard by the sudden maneuver. Brie did not have enough time to react. She was seeing stars the moment Zoey's kick connected with her face! The smaller wrestler was silent, as the kick admittedly sent her flying. Audible gasps could be heard in the audience when this occurred.

She wasn't kicked as far as the crowd, but she did tumble through the ropes and landed on her back just, outside of the ring. Her nose developed a reddish tint that would likely become an ugly bruise for her to tend to in the morning. But that wasn't Brie's concern at that moment—she was experiencing a slight daze and was slow to stand up. She rolled on to her knees and began to rise to her feet again. Brie felt a tinge of regret for the retort that she had hurled at Zoey only moments before. When she managed to stand on her feet, she climbed back in to the mat, with some applause from the audience, who still expected a full fight for the money that they paid.

Brie narrowed her eyes at Zoey; her smirking and dry humor no longer prevalent as they had been previously. "Nice kick," Brie would bitterly comment. "But that isn't going to happen again." The taller woman had humbled Brie for the moment. The Kawaii wrestler took a fighting stance, preparing herself for whatever would come next. She preferred to see what other stunts Zoey would try to pull before committing to anything.

Zoey didn't look at the crowd, didn’t even consider them a thought in her mind up to now. It was only after they fell silent t There was what felt like one giant gasp, a couple shrieks a bit after that, but then? After a moment or two when it all processed? Silence. Even the referee had forgotten to start counting Brie out, or to make sure she was still conscious, and just stood there with eyes the size of dinner plates.

Zoey took a second to purse her lips, admiring her handiwork, then turned around and gave the referee a casual thumbs up as she started pacing back to the center.

Then came the boos. Figures. She looked out into the crowd and saw one obscene gesture after the next. Nothing but death threats and insults to the only maternal figure in her life surrounded her. Zoey grew a fierce scowl on her face as she looked around.

“What?!” She yelled, throwing her hands up and making her way back to the center of the ring. “Get the fuck over it! Throwing some rug rat at me. How ‘bout you pricks be happy its-”

The words stopped dead in her mouth when she caught a scrap of blonde hair in the corner of her eye. A round of applause that made it way across the arena was all the hint she needed to tell who exactly was climbing back into the ring. What, in the fucking hell, was she looking at right now?

Zoey just stared for a moment, slack-jawed and furrowing her eyebrows as her brain tried to piece together how this runt was conscious, let alone coming back for more. Hell, she wasn’t even crying. Barley even a twitch as she looked at the Korean-American with a cold, bitter gaze Tough little nut.

“You serious?” She said with an awkward grin. She began to slowly walk over to her, arms folded with a quirked brow as she approached. “Come on, kid. Are you for real? Do you even know where you’re at? Look, I don’t wanna seriously hurt you or anything. Just turn around, walk away, and-”

Zoey suddenly unfolded her arms and took a quick step forward. Reeling a fist back, she’d shoot the fastest hook she could manage towards the dead center of Brie’s cute little face, aiming for that soft looking red spot on her nose.

Oddly taking Zoey's words to heart, Brie pointed down at the ring with much bravado. "I'm where I need to be right n--" Brie was interrupted when Zoey, without warning, charged at her. Brie was not able to block in time. The nasty hook was thrown, and it nailed the softest part of her face. "Ngh!" A cute grunt escaped the Kawaii wrestler as she was punched in the nose. The impact shook her, and it felt like her own face could crack open at any moment.

She fell on her rear end and grabbed her nose reactively to rub it. There was no blood, at least not yet. But now the red spot had covered the entire bridge of her nose. Now it was definitely going to be felt in the morning. After regaining some of her composure, Brie looked up and flashed the same gaze she did moments before but this time, she furrowed her own blonde eyebrows.

"I expected a better follow-up," she replied, sounding slightly disappointed while making her quip. She slowly stood up once again, refusing to stay on the ground. "And for the record, you don't scare me." She took the same fighting pose, although it never did anything for her before.

So far, Zoey's strategy seemed to involve rushed attacks. At least, that seemed to be the case so far. It was not the easiest type of fighting style to predict or counter, but it was not the strongest strategy either. There was only one way to find out; Brie would try to goad Zoey into attacking her. "I don't think you can knock me out~"

That wry grin returned once again.

Something was wrong here.

There was nothing wrong with Zoey’s punch, as far as she could tell. Had a decent windup, good speed, nice impact. Her footing seemed right, even if the transition was a bit snappy. It even put Brie right back on her ass. Who cares if she was small? You got knocked on your ass, you got knocked on your ass. Everything seemed to have gone the way it was supposed to.

So why the fuck was she getting back up?

More than that, why was she getting back up and taunting her about it? Zoey knew better than to assume the pint-sized blonde just shook off her punches, but the way she just kept coming back was giving her second thoughts. It was irritating more than anything else. The mocking words. The bold stance. Who did this kid think she was?

“Will you just fucking-”

Alright. Preschool was going down. That was the only thought she had going through her mind right now. It was one thing to talk shit after, but when this five-foot twerp started asking for more? Zoey didn’t even know what to say, really. She’d never had a kid ask her to knock them out before. Hell, never had anyone ask them to knock them out before. Her mind just stalled for a moment at those words, pondering what to do next.

But her body knew exactly what it wanted to do.

“Say night-night!”

Without even waiting for a command from her brain, Zoey’s took a strong step forward and shot her right leg up, going to smack it upside Brie’s head with a roundhouse kick.

It seemed like a stupid idea. It was. Goading an opponent like Zoey into attacking was akin to poking a hive full of bees. Brie had actually done that once as a child, with typical results. But that was then, and this was now….and right now, Zoey seemed to be done playing around with the Kawaii wrestler. It didn't matter if Brie and Zoey only knew each other for five minutes, because it was that clear: She was the hive of bees, and Brie's words were the prodding stick.

Brie's mocking served as the trigger for Zoey's incoming attack, a dangerous roundhouse kick. But Brie was prepared this time, maintaining her stance. She saw Zoey's right leg lift off the ground. Her fists weren't going anywhere. This had to work. In a last-second attempt to block the attack, Brie raised her left arm, bracing herself for the kick. A noticeable wince appeared on the tiny girl's face once the kick collided with her left arm. With squinted eyes, she flinched from the pain. The kick had been blocked.

It hurt. But she wasn't knocked out. Her arm felt a throbbing pain, but now her opponent was wide open for an attack. Before making any moves, Brie opened one of her eyes and gave a cocky smile. "You dummy! I said that I wouldn't let that happen again!" Almost immediately after her retort, she dashed toward Zoey, jumping at her with all of the ferocity that someone shy of five feet could muster.

Brie reared her head and attempted to bash her skull into Zoey's jaw. It would probably hurt herself, but she suspected that it would hurt Zoey even more if it managed to land successfully.