S.A.S. Open Challange! (For Acuya and Yori)

Clara and Alice were in Tension arena's locker room, getting dressed and ready for their debut match as a tag team!

But, to say the day for the duo (or at least for Clara) went smoothly was an understatement.

She had recieved a message, the moment she woke up (or rather, the message woke her up at 6 AM), from Alice about their match happening in the evening, and requesting she get to her, by the train, as soon as possible.

The problem?

Alice was in Kyoto as she worked primarily for Tension.

Clara was in Tokyo for Friction.

To say that Clara leaped off her bed, and bolted to get herself to Kyoto was an understatement.

Within 6 hours of booking the tickets, packing up her gear and clothes to stay over in Kyoto with Alice for the day (no way would she be in shape to get to Tokyo after a match), getting to the station, and getting to the city, it all took 6 hours, and likely 2 missed hours of sleep for the chuuni girl, all the while Alice greeted her slightly grim face with a cheeky smile.

As the two got to Alice's house, Clara let her displeasure to her sister known:

"I could've easily booked everything last night, why didn't you message me then?"

With a guilty look on her face, the younger Brit admitted: "I forgot...", as she bit on the side of her bottom lip.

All the older Gaster could do was grumble in slight anger, as her sister laughed the situation.

Even worse about their match, she discovered her sister did not pick an opponent for their match! Instead, their debut was to be an open challenge!

As a result, Clara was slightly sleep deprived, and grumpy at her sister's laziness to find an opponent for their debut, but a cup of coffee did help her somewhat to perk up, even if she still was a bit grumpy at the situation:

"Don't be so mad...I'll owe you one for that", Alice would tell Clara in the locker room.

"Hmmm...alright...", Clara would say, as she finished putting on her boots, and stood up from the bench: "Then I'm leading the promo!"

Knowing what her older sister meant by that, Alice's grin was replaced with a sour expression, before nodding at her in confirmation:

"Alright, "Shadow Lord""

Just then, the duo got a knock on the door, letting them know they were due soon:

"Let's go kick ass!"

Clara nodded as she put her mask on: "Yeah!"

A few moments later, "Warriors" by Imagine Dragons began playing throughout the AFW arena to signal the arrival of the Sisters of All Styles, with Alice entering with her trademark Kendo Stick, while GASTER let out her signature laugh the moment she stepped onto the entrance ramp.

The two then proceeded to make their way down to the ring, GASTER simply looking into the crowd with her hands behind her back, while Alice pointed her Kendo Stick to everyone around the arena, with the reaction being mixed. Most of AFW knew GASTER  mostly for her losing ways, while Alice was still quite fresh to the Tension scene...hell, Japanese scene in general.

Both sisters, however, knew that together, they will turn the heads in the arena in their directions...

With the duo in the ring, Clara requested a mic from the referee, the order quickly being done as the ref picked it up from a crew worker at ringside.

"Mwahahahahaha! Foolish mortals! I've came here on a multiversal train from the realm of Friction all the way here, to my first general laying terror to your universe!"

At being mentioned, Alice would wave to the crowd with a faux smile on her face at her sister's promo:

"And now that I joined her, there is no one and nothing that can stop us! So if anyone is brave enough to prove us wrong, step right up and be our first victim! Mwahahahahaha!"

Makoto had a problem. A big, serious problem.

She hadn’t even really wanted to be at the arena for this episode of Tension, but her options were limited, so she hadn’t had much choice. Stone was busy having a long Skype conversation with her brother back home, something about her father’s health, so she was occupied. Devine had a late-night mixed wrestling sessions with one of her clients, making some good money on the side. The other girls outside of the inner circle were starting to give her wider berth now that she wasn’t their leader.

That left her with precious little to do tonight. But she got Tension tickets for free, so why the hell not? Only when she’d got there, she seen these two new girls in the rings, looking like idiots and talking way, way too much shit. They were newbies, morons, and one of them was even shorter than Makoto. She might’ve even been an actual midget. She’d seen taller kawaiis, and this chick was in Tension, where psychos like King hung out.

They needed a wakeup call, and Makot was so ready to give it. The only problem was that her usual people weren’t anywhere close. That left her with one option. The woman who’d rode bitch with her here, and she’d considered ditching at the first opportunity: Reiko Ishida.

The brat had joined the gang after they’d run into her a shop where she was working, and she’d starting sucking up right away, trying to get in. Makoto hadn’t been for it, but Stone took a weird shine to her, and Devine thought she was cute and probably wanted to fuck her at some point in the future, so she went it.

Makoto did not like Reiko. She was a kiss-ass, she was a   She never outright stated it, but she’d tried to make it clear in a number of less than subtle ways. But she was a registered wrestler with the AFW, which meant she was the only option Makoto. What was that stupid saying she heard Stone say once? When life gives you lemons…

She and Reiko were in the gorilla position, getting ready to come out. No one else was accepting the challenge, not as far as she could see, so they had some time. Time she needed to make sure Reiko was in the right headspace. ”Okay,” She took a deep breath and turned to her fellow Valkyrie, buttoning up her jacket as she spoke. ”You know what this is about, right? You’re ready for this?”

Details had been sparse for Reiko. She had been told to “follow”, which she had done without question. A small peek outside of the black curtains to the ring beyond had clued her into what her purpose here was. They were going to kick some teeth in. Some random street girl and this little goober girl with some weirdo cartoon character gimmick. What a loser. The last thing Tension needed was more freaks, it was packed to bursting already.

“Dunk some nerds. Yeah, I got this.” Reiko leans back from her view down the ramp, eyeing Makoto from over her shoulder. “Twelve hundred yen I can make the small one in the mask cry.” She cracked a wicked smirk, pressing a balled fist into her open palm to crack her knuckles.

From laughter, maybe.

No, no, that wasn’t the right mindset for Makoto to be. She needed to support Reiko...or at least back her up enough to get this done. They were facing two shrimps, they had the height advantage for the first time in their lives, they could do this. Right? Right.

]“Look at me, back here.” She spun her finger around, wanting Reiko’s full attention, not the tough bitch act she was going for. ”It’s not just dunking nerds. We’re out there to make a statement. After that shit with Thunder Mask, all these little groups are popping up over Tension. Those bitches in red, those dumbasses in blue, and it probably won’t be too long before some of the Friction crazies come in for a piece. People are moving in on our territory, so tonight we show them why that’s a bad idea.”

She gave Reiko’s chest a hard poke. ”We’re going out there to dominate. You’re representing the gang. So when you say you’re ready, you better fucking mean it. Understand?”

Reiko winced, the sort of physical recoil one might have is a nun cracked the back of their hands with a yardstick. Makoto's tone and demeanor dug into her, brushing aside her own bravado to focus her mind on the prize. The small correction felt like she was being lectured to… she wasn't a child or anything. What gives?

Her nostrils flared, drawing in a deep breath as if she was about to say something, but her thoughts were met with only silence with a small nod and compliance. Turning on her heel she stood before Makoto at full attention, nodding firmly. Regardless of what recent happenings might dictate, in her eyes Makoto was still the head of the Valkyries. Her word was law, beyond question.

“I'm ready for this… just let me out there and I will tear these two nobodies to pieces.” Her body shook, fingers curling into small fists. She was hungry to prove herself, it was written all over her face. She was always making her mark in the streets with her tagging, now it was time to put down the spray paint and leave her calling card with two bodies to send to the back. “Let's do this.”

Makoto would have to give Reiko some reluctant credit - the girl didn’t give her much shit. Even when she was officially in charge, Stone was always trying to be the angel on her shoulder, get her to do what she thought was the right thing. Devine was just a liable to do what you wanted or the exact opposite, depending on whatever random mood suited her.

Nope. Just blind, unwavering obedience. If Reiko had objections, she wasn’t of a mind to share them.

The window was closing, time was running out, and it was time to make some lemonade. She gave Reiko one final look over, then nodded. ”Yeah.” She cracked her knuckles and started to walk past. ”Let’s.”

Reiko was happy she wasn't put on the spot with another objection in wording or action. For now the two of them seemed on the same page, which was good. Her eyes followed Makoto, stepping back to let the woman move by her easily towards the curtain. She was hesitant to say anything, who was she to offer advice really? Still…

“Hey, Makoto.” She stood slightly straighter, presenting herself with pride and confidence. “I have an idea.” It was a bold suggestion, but one she was always keen to dip into. She was still an unknown in Tension which provided her a bit of anonymity which could be turned in their favor.

A moment later and Makoto was standing on top of the ramp, microphone in hand, looking down at the unknowing victims that had come her way. She wouldn’t have much to say, wanting to get this thing started off soon, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t lead them on. Just for a little bit.

”Well. Look at this shit. A couple of kids got lost on the way home from school.” Makoto smirked, gazing out to the crowd. ”Little early for Halloween, isn’t it? And we don’t really do that kiddie trick-or-treat stuff much here, so...”

Upon a (slightly uncomfortable) silence in the next few minutes, someone would finally appear on the entrance ramp! And...berate GASTER's act as a "Halloween" act.

Clara, however, would be undeterred, as she moved towards the ropes facing the ramp, Alice following suit as she took a look at the woman on the ramp:

"You can believe it's part of your Earthly festivities however much you want, but when you step into this ring to fight us, it will be akin to stepping into the deepest layer of hell! And since you seem to want to challenge us alone, your experience will be 10 times worse!"

Alice, on the other hand would get a bad feeling about this. No one in their right mind would come to a tag team challenge alone for a handicap match...so where was the girl's partner?

Moving through the audience had become child's play the moment Makoto hit the stage. People around her sprang up, waving signs, shouting denouncements, and drowning out any sound of her coming. Reiko was forced to shoulder past someone every so often, but for the most part of people parted for her as she moved through the sea of bodies, staying low and out of sight.

Who did these two think they were anyway, making open challenges like they own d the place or something. She was going to make sure the Valkyries made an example out of them. This was their house, if these two wanted to play, they had to pay their dues first.

Slipping over the barricade, several people turned in confusion to this unknown jumping into the ringside area. Hood drawn up over her head, a medical mask over her lower face depicting a cartoonish mouth with lips sewn shut, and a figure most couldn't place, she was an unknown. She could have easily passed as a thug extra on a movie set, subtly wasn't her strong suit past sneaking up on someone from behind.

Gripped tightly between her fingers with an old worn aluminum baseball bat, at one point a pristine cobalt blue, it had seen enough weathering to strip itself down to a dull metallic gray. Knicks and dents worked all up and down the length of the weapon showed definite signs of use, though it was uncertain if it was on people or objects. Neon pinks, greens, and a cloudy white paint were splashed wildly along the bat, the sorts that would glow with a fantastic display under a blacklight. On one side, “Lil Sister” was written in a crisp cursive font along the bat, on the other the kanji characters “悪い女の子”.

Reiko leaned in, rushing along no man's land between crowd and the ring with a low roadie run, closing in on her prey with laser focus. With a leaping dive, she threw herself under the bottom rope, barely causing a stir along the canvas. The crowd was shouting and booing now, a garbled mess that made any warnings they cried out to the two within the ring almost unintelligible. Rising to her feet, she clenched her fingers around the taped grip of her back, charging forward with the weapon trailing behind her.

The distance between them was short, two targets to choose from. The masked girl with the cartoon villain gimmick would be an easy fight, no doubt, so she opted to go after the other sister who was still an unknown to her. Her boots squared along the mat, taking the last steps as vaulting hops, drawing back her bat. With a wide violent arc, she swept the bat around low, attempting to start off strong by taking out one of Alice's knees.

Alice briefly turned around while the woman on the ramp berated them, sensing some sort of trickery was a foot. But aside from her and Clara, there wasn't anyone in the ring. Still, as Clara gave her reply, she couldn't help but feel that her sister and her were, somehow, in danger...

Within 5 seconds of Clara's answer to the brunette on the ramp, Alice's fear were confirmed, as she felt a sharp hit to the side of her knee!

"GAAAAAAAAAAH!", the Pale Rider screamed as she crumbled onto the canvas, Clara momentarily turning around:

"ALICE!", she screamed, quickly seeing another brunette standing with a baseball in hand over her sister as she clutched her hurting leg. The loud noise of the crowd easily hid the woman's movements from the duo, as she pulled off a successful sneak attack!

However, only one of the sisters was down.

With no hesitation, the Shadow Lord curled her right hand into a fist, quickly aiming it into her sister's assailant's jaw...but completely forgetting for a moment about the woman on the entrance ramp!