SS 19 Entropy Championship - Manami Kuroda (c) vs. Pyrena Alexandria Nikos

The idea of morality and fairness could not be any greyer, with everyone having their own viewpoints of what would be seen as honest. Tricky to debate on this one, considering the rules that are there in the first place. Was there a difference in Pyrena’s chair shot to the head compared to a simple low blow from Manami? One would argue the use of weapons is still stuff that you can use to your advantage, the same as using a sword or a spear in battle. The notion of “hitting below the belt” and throwing sand in one’s eyes, to some, still is acceptable. This is a hardcore match, not a standard match. Anything and everything would be used in battle, and you would be in a disadvantage if you choose not to use the environment in your favour. The Californian crowd still had kept a sense of honour, unwritten rules still in effect on the battlefield, if this match was to be following the Geneva Conventions of 1949, something that all nations have come to agree upon. Even war still followed such rules.

Only that this wasn’t the place for such things. Or to be more specific, one didn’t even care about such ideals. Which is where this could fall apart.

The low blow would be disgraceful in its own right but throwing sand would be throwing salt in the wounds. Grains of sand and eyeballs aren’t a mixture that should happen, but the Greek Titan couldn’t help but brush them away. There wasn’t much she could do when she cannot see, but she could imagine the sickening glee that Manami had, despite resorting to such tactics. Pyrena wasn’t an idiot, she knew giving someone like Manami an inch, and she’ll take a mile. What is foolish is going at things blind, recklessness wouldn’t help much unless if you’re lucky. Brushing off some sand off would at least help to mitigate and ease such irritation. Only that simple irritation is minuscule to getting kicked in the jaw.

Caught unprepared and didn’t get the chance to fully see it coming, only seeing a blur of green before something struck her head, the Red Amazon falling down another level and onto her back. Her legs flopped onto the sandy floor as she looked up in such a daze. Had Pyrena been knocked out, she wouldn’t have been feeling this massive ache around her head, thumping over and over. She couldn’t tell if what she’s seeing is the grains of sand or stars at that point.

On the bright side, that knee to the face was every bit as satisfying as she could have hoped. Pyrena had the face of a princess, and she meant that with all the sincerity she could muster. Such elegant and beautiful features. Straight out of a storybook or high epic from ages come and gone. It’s what made removing it so much of a pleasure for her. Manami could only hope that all of her fans were getting a close glimpse at where this self-sacrifice got you. What all the aspiring talents watching from the backstage could look forward to.

Soon enough that would come to pass. That desperate maneuver wasn’t without its consequences. The Wolf Girl moved too fast, too eagerly. In the same moment her foot fell touched the ground, she fell to one knee at the top of the gladiator's head. Her light head and heavy shoulders told her how little she’d recovered from that blow to the head. She couldn’t hope for a strong followup, but that was fine. The champion had other ideas for her honored guest.

“You fucking idiot.” Manami let out a few haggard breaths as she stood back upright, glaring a vengeful eye down at the Greek over her shoulder. “Did you really think you could best me with a couple of cheap shots? I’ve lived the game you’re trying to play at. Don’t even attempt to degrade me to the likes of you fawns.” She hammered in that last point with a quick kick to Pyrena’s cheek. Her body trembled with disgust, before she let it go with a sigh and let her gaze shift off to her side.

“Tch, what am I even saying?” She turned to face the ring and knelt down, sneaking a hand underneath the apron. A steel pipe emerged from the covering and firmly in her grasp. She held the hefty piece of industrial rejection offhand, letting the feeling get comfortable in her hand before she slid her hand further down the grip and brandished it like a cherished baseball bat. When she turned back around to face the fallen warrior, the crowd roused to life in a panic of screams and cheers. Some closer to the front tried to warn Pyrena of her impending doom. A desperate bid that would fall on deaf ears.

She would be long for this world.

“Fools should just die.” Manami raised the pipe high, catching a glint of the beaming lights befitting the divine judgment she would pass with a mighty plunge downward straight towards the bridge of her nose.

Furiously blinking, white bright lights filled her vison as Pyrena couldn’t begin to tell what had just hit her. It was just a wonder that she still kept her grip on consciousness, even with a knee to the face. The pain was the only thing that kept her awake, only to torment her further, bringing into eternal suffering. Not that it was the first time that Lady Pain had brought her there, such a cruel mistress indeed. Any lesser mortal would have simply shut off and buckle from it all, their bodies unable to endure. But the Red Amazon was above them, having gone through many spars, agonizing training, brutal training to hone their bodies for such combat. Forged for battle, her blade sharpened for war. She has endured and will endure so much, something that Manami probably wouldn’t have understood. The game the Red Amazon played was no less brutal, just because steel was added onto it.

But Manami wasn’t going to give a shit anyway so why should she fight for her approval? It was as she said, this wasn’t to entertain the Wolf. But to crush and put an end to her ideals. The people willed it so, and that carried her. Spurred her on, give her strength. The quick kick from Manami woke her up of sorts as if she was brought back to earth.

The Greek Titan’s body turned with the kick. Her brain didn’t register what Manami had said, only catching to the part where she questioned what was coming out of her mouth. Rubbish would have been the answer Pyrena could give but now wasn’t the time to do so. Her eyes looked around from the side plane of sand, seeing the barrier, looking up to see one particular person trying to will her to get up. Another was screaming her about something soon after. From the looks of things, this wasn’t a good thing. The quick glance at Manami pulling a steel pipe from underneath the apron was confirmation of that, the challenger looking around for something, anything. And then she found it.

The chair. Glistening under the roof lights as if the gods above gave it to her at her time of need. Her eyes widened as strength surged through her body, an arm reaching out towards it, gripping at one of its legs before turning around quickly, most of the crowd covering their eyes to shield the horrid sight that would have come.

*CLANG*

Only that instead of the sickening thud of metal hitting flesh and bone, a solid clang rang out all over the arena. Any millisecond later and Pyrena would have met with Manami’s wrath. The drums of war, that’s her heartbeat, thumped deeply, staring at the pieces of metal hovering her face. One meant to smash her face in, and another meant to shield her. And the Red Amazon’s hands were gripping on that powerful shield. It was close. Very close.

Thank you, Athena.

One could hear a pin drop in the silence that seemed to fall over the arena in this brief moment. Manami with her arm raised high and the cold steel coming down on the gladiator like the headsman’s axe. Time slowed as her blood seemed to boil and freeze at the same time, always in these moments of anticipation, faced fang to fang with someone she couldn’t afford to let getaway. Pyrena was good, she was experienced, she was dangerous. The match was taking their toll on them both, but unless she capitalized on that fact with something decisive, it wouldn’t mean much in the end would it?

All Manami needed was to make that opening. People were fallible and crumbled quickly beneath relentless trauma. The shock would peel away her defenses and she’d be able to carve away at her piece by piece. The wolf knew it better than anyone, and in her experience, one solid blow was typically enough. Maybe another with a bit more torque in the wrist if they were particularly stubborn about it.

Typical of Pyrena to not go quietly into that good night. A chair suddenly got between them, that same one that bashed her in the head earlier. That was starting to become a real annoyance.

Whatever reclusive diet she prayed to in her moments of doubt, she was damn lucky for that bone they’d thrown her. Metal crashed against metal with a violent smack that struck the crowd with a collective jerk back. Manami’s hand recoiled high into the air, eyes wide in a moment of disbelief. Just a second, one instant quicker and she could have…

A deep snarl came from between gnashed teeth and bared fangs. Her grip against the steel rod tightened before she came straight back at Pyrena with one bash after another, unleashing a torrent of backhands and forehands to rip away her defense. The shot she’d taken to the jaw was still numbing her movements. The effects could be seen easily in the way she stumbled with every other strike and struggled here and again to regain her footing. But the Wolf Girl didn’t dedicate an ounce of thought away from the redhead at her feet. She chased her the whole way behind the shield wherever it went. Her prey was marked.

Her heart thumped hard as if the heartbeat could be heard from underneath Pyrena’s form. The Greek Titan stared for a moment at the two bits of steel hovering above her face. One was meant to bring doom and destruction, and another meant to shield her from such a tragedy. The crowd for a brief moment couldn’t have bear to look at what would have been a sickening sight of steel meeting flesh and bone. In particular, the facial features of the redheaded spartan. And they did jerk back though the noise wasn’t something that they expected as it reverberated all over the arena in Los Angeles.

Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, a cold droplet of it as the sheen showed of the toll this match was taking and denying the wolf something to sink her teeth into, especially at the moment like this. Athena. The one name that Pyrena thought of as she stared at the pieces of metal above her. She clung onto that precious metal for dear life, never letting it go, just as hard as their partners clinging onto someone in anticipation and fear. Athena was someone she had read a lot during her childhood, her father telling great stories of such heroes of Greek Mythology. Hell, even she came into the ring with a shield, something she wore with great pride. It wasn’t Aegis, the guard wasn’t merely animal skin with a gorgon head on it, but it was close enough. The gods have given her a lifeline. And Pyrena wasn’t going to waste that chance.

Another clang from steel brought the Red Amazon back into reality, seeing the wolf bear her fangs as the spartan. Another slam onto the steel chair had Pyrena showing her gnashed teeth as her grip held tight on the god-given shield. The clanging kept on and on, the raging torrent of strikes seeking to chip away at the defences and break them down. Pyrena shifted to get some space, sliding on the sandy floor as her heels dug onto the grains. As much as she could keep up such an impenetrable defence, she couldn’t hope to sustain it for too long without a proper reply from the Greek. Even as she took hit after hit, it was with a purpose, not idle time. She was waiting for a good moment to strike. Right about….

Now.

Pyrena, with her trusty shield, pushed the steel pipe out of the way. Considering how tired Manami must have been, it would have been easier to set up a wide opening. The Greek Titan would then fling the steel chair right towards Manami’s head, hoping that her aim was steady and dependable, putting all her strength into that throw.

Just break through the chair. Just break through the chair. Just get past this goddamn stupid fucking-

Manami may have been feeling a tad frustrated. Not a feeling that she liked to get the best of her in crucial moments such as this one. There was just something about Pyrena’s chivalrous tenacity and exasperatingly convenient luck that was putting her patience at an all-time low.

When the Wolf Girl wanted someone out of commission, that typically ended up being the case with relatively little issue. It didn’t seem to matter who they were. How large, how experienced, how cautious, or desperate. The ex-Entropy Champion learned that lesson the long and hard way. The seemingly unstoppable stone-wall Juggernaut crumbled into rubble sooner rather than later. Breaking bodies was her specialty. Hunting larger game was something that she could attest to having a remote ‘pride’ towards. No matter how hard the world turned against her, someone had to die.

But this woman. This stubborn redhead with her fickle honor-bound delusions. This eyesore that roved into her presence and simply refused to leave her sight. This insufferable girl. She just seemed to have a natural grip on life.

Everything just seemed to fall into the right place for her at the right moments. A chair not too far away, a heartbeat that didn’t go unwasted, a strike that came up just short. Manami wouldn’t have missed that window of opportunity against anyone else. She felt cheated, defiled. Her teeth gnashed as she continued to swing away at her prize, following her wherever she went as the redhead attempted to scurry away. That wouldn't be so easy. She would chase this woman to the ends of the earth. She’d corner her, sink her teeth into her neck, and rip her apart chunk by bloody-

BANG!

A sickening crack echoed out from the ringside. Manami arms flopped to her sides. Her knees buckled as her eyes curled back into the inside of her skull. She hadn’t seen the chair fly at her at MACH speed, but it hardly mattered. Its solid end had hit her forehead square in the center. Had it been thrown any harder, it likely would have taken the top of her head clean off. For now, Manami would have to be content with a discolored welt as she slowly fell back to the floor, hitting the wooden surface lifeless and head lulled to one side.

In all this time trying to defend herself, she hoped that the chair won’t break on her. That would be the last thing that Pyrena needed, to have a close call only to find out that you’re delaying the inevitable. Not that she wanted to believe it as such, the gods have given her a lifeline, and she would be dammed to waste that chance. That opportunity to turn things around and save this match. She just needed to find the right moment.

Manami was already showing signs of frustration, the champion desperate to take her out of commission. It is a hardcore match, and the rules encouraged such savagery to go unchecked and unreprimanded. Pyrena had proven already that she wasn’t like those that she had fought before Tougher. Stronger. Faster. While luck also played a factor in a duel, that would discredit the work and choices Pyrena had made during this match. And that would be the biggest slap in the face for the Red Amazon. Pyrena decided the Wolf Girl was going to pay for thinking like that, despite not vocalizing such thoughts.

And she knew just the thing to do it. Much more painful than a slap to the face, of course.

But instead slinging the chair and cracking Manami in the skull. Many L.A streamers were thinking of the one time a solider threw the knife at a disgraced general or something. Either way, that was quite the blow to the head, it was as if a sniper was above the rafters and took a shot right there and then. Some crowd members winced at the painful chair blast to the skull, while the others burst with cheers for the Greek Titan. Manami fell down hard and Pyrena looked at her handiwork. It was almost as if she fell in slow motion, perhaps showing the moment where she must capitalize. Take advantage and push on. If only her body was in total agreement with her mind, the match had already taken its toll, and she cannot deny the damage taken from the Wolf Girl. She rolled onto her hands and knees, breathing heavily, grains of sand stuck on her form, Pyrena didn’t bother wiping it all off. Save for droplets of sweat that fell down her red crown, she wiped it off her cheek, not once leaving her eyes off the wounded wolf.

Pyrena crawled towards Manami, almost stalking as if she was the wolf and the champion was her prey. She had enough battles in the sand for tonight and desired to take the struggle somewhere different. She hooked her arms under Manami’s armpits and dragged the woman towards the ring, leaving a trail of sand, a sight similar to a killer dragging a dead body to the river. That took way too much effort than it should, but Pyrena wasn’t as fresh as she came into the fight. That was to be expected. Nevertheless, she pushed on, eager to take the battle to when it all started.

The Greek Titan heaved the lifeless body inside, rolling her in before taking a breather herself before she would roll underneath the ropes. The night was reaching its apex and fans knew the end has come. How this would end however was the big question, but many were hedging bets on the Greek challenger. With the assistance of the ropes, Pyrena slowly pulled herself up onto her feet, brushing her red hair behind her like the warrior princess she is. From there it was hobbling towards the hated Manami, reaching down to grab her head to get the Wolf Girl into position. That being stuffing her head between her tree trunk thighs. It was an awkward position, and Pyrena knew that was she was about to do would take a lot out of her. Especially since what she is planning to do wouldn’t rest with one particular move. But instead a massive combo to hopefully put her away for good, making it official. Pyrena wrapped her arms around Manami’s bust before gathering her energy for this, gritting her teeth hard and attempting to deadlift the champion high into the air. Once the hard part is done, the easy part followed, which is to dump her straight down to hell with this one. A start to her finisher, anyone that seen one of her matches would know that this would be considered overkill.

But all to put the wolf down for good.

Part of Manami deeply detested how familiar this place was becoming for her. This perpetual darkness she was sent reeling into after one hard knock to the head too many; the weightlessness, as if she was outside of herself. Punched clean out of her own head.

An all-around enjoyable experience, she could assure you. This match had taken its toll more than she cared to admit. All of them had, pushing her body to limits it may not have been willing to bear. To think a simple strap of leather and gold could draw out so much life from these sheltered cretins. Perhaps that was indicative of something more. That this arena really was home to the strongest. The cream of the crop. First Belinda, then Valley, now this painful thorn in her side. Nuisances that weren’t making her goals any easier to achieve, fighting tooth and nail every step of the way. Formidable prey, yet prey nonetheless.

She’d always sought challenge from her foes. How better to sharpen her fangs and strengthen her claws? The issue always stemmed from the supply with only one or two worthy vagrants out of the whole. AFW fulfilled her wishes in that regard. She’d never felt as alive as she had in this past year. Women like Pyrena were who she had to thank for that. Thanks to them, she could never find a reason to stop destroying everything they loved.

That was a difficult statement to back at the moment, of course. There was no resistance to offer when Pyrena hauled her limp body out of the sand. Droplets of blood tailed from her forehead to the desert grains, below leading a trail onto the ring mats. A red smear across her forehead marked the spot where her face dragged as she was rolled underneath the ropes, stirring ever so subtly on her back. There was an awareness of the sounds and space around her, feeling the blistering heat on her skin caked in sweat, but it meant little. The patrons of Los Angeles certainly felt that way, their rousing cheers reaching a near-deafening tone as the Greek Titan splayed Manami upside down like a carcass. An ideal powerbomb position with one of the few rookies both strong and smart enough to use it to its most devastating effect. Somewhere in her unconscious mind, Manami hoped she was wrong.

She wasn’t.

Up she went, down she came. Her body didn’t so much slam as it did splash across the floor in a violent torrent, shaking the ropes and rattling their posts at the stake. The Wolf Girl’s eyes sprung open, but the life within them betrayed the voiceless, gagging wretch of dead air that escaped her open mouth. Her energy was sapped beneath the shockwave, unable to lift a finger. And she had a feeling the worst was yet to come.

Even now, there was still one idea that Pyrena herself loathed. The fact that she was giving Manami what she wanted. As if she was going to walk away with something that made her satisfied. That’s not to say that the Red Amazon was under the illusion that Manami had any respect or love for her opponent, the point was made clear that she was devoid of any of it. But it was as if this match wasn’t just for the Entropy belt, which was the prize that is only in reach or taking down a threat, cancer that would continue to exacerbate unless she cuts it out for good. No, there was something much bigger than that. Loathe would be an understatement.

The Red Amazon never hid the fact that she loved the thrill of battle. The same blood that pumped through her veins is the same from her ancestors that have been sharpened in the battlefield when war and glory were all that they knew. Tests that pushed her body past the limit and yet finding even more ways to break the plateau. Seeking limits and breaking them even more to be the very best that one could be. She was moulded in the flames of war, trials and conquests. That fire remained in Pyrena. A fire that was almost faltering in its blaze the first time she stepped foot in AFW. It took a battle with a lion to stoke it even more. But also she couldn’t have pushed her just as much as this incessant wolf did.

Granted, that match wasn’t a hardcore match so the trials could only go so far. The Greek Titan didn’t have to hurl a metal chair at someone’s head. But Pyrena wished she was pushed as hard as this. At least someone who wasn’t Manami Kuroda.

Because despite the challenge she brought her in this match, which is to be expected for one called a champion, she hated the fact that the Wolf Girl is the one to do it, which brought conflict in her mind and turn, incensed Pyrena further. She wasn’t going to dwell in such thoughts, however, especially since she was closer to putting the wolf down for good.

The first slam came and went, throwing Manami down with the intent of making her suffer. Even with how tough she is, not many could withstand a drop like that. But one would be foolish to think this was the end of it. Far from it. There was much more in store for her, the Greek near deadlifted her opponent up in the air, an offering to the gods above before bringing her down to the ground again. She breathed deeply, gritting her teeth, putting her all in this. There wasn’t going to be any moment where she half-assed this move. Anything less wouldn’t be enough. Even if the patrons of Los Angeles think that three consecutive powerbombs were considered overkill, this was necessary. Each slam was driving a nail down to shut the coffin airtight and send her six feet under. Bring her to the point where she wouldn’t have an answer for Atlas’s Wrath.

Though after the third powerbomb, Pyrena almost stumbled. Her legs almost gave up on her, collapsing underneath. Pyrena blinked hard; perhaps she was doing things all too quickly and too much. She wasn’t thinking when it came to how much power she was putting on that move, but she could assume that it was so much that her body was almost tiring out. Even though she could do more, throw in a couple more…she must not lose sight of the goal. So instead of the powerbomb position, Pyrena would place Manami in a different position, a fireman carry, pushing off the one knee and near stumbling around before she found her footing. Droplets of sweat fell her face, her chest rising and falling with each deep breath. This was her moment, and she would end things ideally as she would no doubt go for her burning hammer, something to wrap things up nicely with a bow.

To think she was actually stupid enough to think that the first powerbomb would be the worst of it. Manami only had some lucid awareness of the world around her at this moment, drifting between that realm of perilous existence and dreary dreamscapes. A wiser woman would probably have gone for a pinfall at this moment, taking advantage of her disoriented state before the wolf could fully recover. A wiser woman would have been dead after she woke up. Pyrena was a warrior, and that meant a killer instinct for just this kind of kill. She wasn’t taking any chances and there was something almost admirable about that.

The second impact sent a horrific shock that brought her back from the dead breathless. A lightning bolt struck her eyes open to the pain of her burning skin and collapsing innards. Her bones creaked against the sensation. And the only thing she had to look forward to was being awake enough for the next explosion. The third and final slam left her seemingly more dead than the last. She didn’t even react aside from a flutter of eyelids and final spasms of her aching muscles. Pushed beyond its limits, her body was laid limp before Pyrena once again peeled it off from the floor and back into prime position for another devastating impact. Manami was only faintly aware of the world shifting around, just enough to tell that her towering foe was changing her approach.

One last attack was coming and she couldn’t so much as twitch a finger, only offering silent groans as Pyrena readjusted her across her broad shoulders. A fitting display for the oncoming champion blazing red glory; a gladiator soaked in the blood of her adversaries. There was a roar making its way through the air, vibrations from the cheers that she felt on her skin, even if her ears couldn’t.

Spartan...

Warrior...honor...valor...fame....

Load of shit.

Whenever she looked at Pyrena it was as if those words were infecting her, The longer she thought on how to, the more irritated she became. All this power, all this talent, and she still stuck to these vain delusions of becoming something beyond herself. As if she was content to be stuck in the collective dream each and every one of these fools took so much senseless hedonistic pleasure in never awaking from. How could Manami blame her entirely? This place was infectious, sickening everyone with its fantasies. This audience, these stage lights, this entire goddamn ring.

She had to burn it all away. With the flames of triumph.

Manami’s leg swung over Pyrena’s head to constrict her around the throat. Her hands clutched the arm at her throat tightly, inviting the choke and refusing to let it go away. The Wolf Girl listed her body to one side and bucked her hips back, pulling the Greek warrior by her neck to hit the floor back-first.

Then, Pyrena. Then this fight would be allowed to end.