The Pit Premiere: An AFW Exclusive Cross Promotion

Eriko was no stranger to what Devine was doing, planting little seeds of desire. Little things to distract and entice that would in theory have a payoff down the road. She knew exactly what the other woman was playing at…  because she did the very same thing to other people who were susceptible to it. But damn if it wasn't tempting to give this woman all the wiggle room she wanted anyway.

The redhead gave a small shudder as Devine's tongue slipped along her ear. She let out a small groan, tilting her head away, craning her neck to the side to create some measure of distance to keep from falling into this trap further. What a smokey tone, the sort that could walk someone into a bedroom for all manner of debauchery without a second thought.

"I get on well with most people." She huffed softly, thrusting her chest out a bit more to create some distance between how far into her personal space Devine could reach with her neck. Her breast spread out over top of the other womans, roaming up against her body as she shifted the angle they pushed together.

Feeling the sudden push from Devine trying to fight forward gave her the obvious idea to respond. Put up a strong front then fall back a day let the other women's momentum come to her. From there it would be an easy scissor lock with the woman coming to her or a roll away from mounting her… though she wasn't keen on pulling Devine on top of her just yet. She didn't know enough about her style to risk it, nor was she confident in her ability to hold the seductress at bay if she invited her into a position of power.

"Well, I love raspberries, kiwis, and clementines. My favorite color is red, the deep sort…" Eriko opted for something different, something unexpected. The straightforward banter was just her way of keeping Devine from creating the mood she wanted, the sort that would give her control of the situation. The martial artist guided their arms down slowly so they were locked at both women's sides, pointed down at the pit. It killed either woman's use of leverage and essentially worked to deadlock them again, forcing them to ineffectually bump and grind against one another.

She twisted hard at the wrist, straining both herself and Devine's arms to face inside out while remaining locked. Her knees spread out, widening her stance and surrendering height to the other woman, letting herself be slowly shoved back again. Her body rolled, retreating before swaying back inward, surging back with a tidal wave of strength not directed directly into Devine from the front, but from below.

"And I enjoy the occasional fling!" She pushed their palms together, arms stiff and locked with no way to bend at the elbow from her she had twisted them. From here she siphoned her strength into hoisting Devine up, through her arms. She leaned back, almost falling as she threw up her arms, trying to launch the other woman over her head and into the oil like a Scottish athlete at a log tossing competition.

”Eriko Sakai. I pronounced that right”

Stone repeated the name she’d just been told by the hostess sitting next to her, when she asked the pretty young thing about the woman her fellow Valkyrie was currently taking on. Since the match started, she’d managed to find the closer seat she was looking for, wanting to get the best view possible of Devine’s glorious triumph or agonizing defeat - either way, she’d be taking pictures. She was also starting to understand the charms behind a hostess bar, as she purchased a drink and received the company of a lovely young lady to go with it.

Her name was Akane, and she seemed new and shy, giggled often and seemed like she’d never sat this close to an American before - though all that could’ve been a ruse, just a way to sell the whole illusion. If it was, though, Akane should’ve been looking into an acting career. ”Yes, that was good.” She gave a quick nod and blinked with her glitter-filled eyelids. ”She’s practically a legend in the pit. Your friend, she seems very good, but…”

Akane tapped her chin, letting that sentence finish itself, as Devine locked up with the Bride of Flame and matched her might. She had to agree, at least from looks alone, that Eriko was the favorite here - but she’d known Devine long enough to never discount the woman when it came to anything involving sex. And it was already clear that sex would be playing a major part, here.

Devine was highly cognizant of that in her current position, letting out a schoolgirl’s giggle as the Bride tried to turn her head away from her affections. ”Now who’s shy?” She snapped her teeth at the Bride as she was pushed back, a starving panthress denied her meal. She wouldn’t go after it too hard though, letting the distance hold for now. It was all too easy to see the woman was playing hard to get, and that might have been a viable strategy in a normal match. But with so many falls to gain, so many opportunities? Oh, she was getting caught in the web. Maybe sooner, maybe later, but it was going to happen. No amount of banal banter would stop it.

She had other concerns at the moment, though, like the way her attempts at control were being shut down by the Bride’s expertise. There was no holding back the unladylike grunts as her arms were forced away. For a moment it seemed like Devine was getting the better of the situation, but she could tell that wasn’t the case right away. She being maneuvered, put into a specific position. The Bride had something in mind.

She didn’t have to wait long to find out what it was, as she was suddenly lifted up and hoisted, sent flying with a pun on top. There was no way to keep this from happening - she didn’t have the weight, didn’t have the strength, didn’t have the position to fight it. She was going flying.

That didn’t mean there wasn’t anything she could do to work with the situation, though. Instead of letting her body be subject to gravity’s whim, she tucked in during mid-flight and turned into a roll, tumbling into the oil instead of coming down flat. The momentum carried her a few extra feet after her shoulders touched down, and she used the time to whip her body around and swing to where she anticipated the Bride would be coming, getting into her crouching ready stance. She wound up crashing into the wall with her back, less than pleasant, and she was in no position to spring back into action - but at least she’d be able to face whatever was coming her way next head on. The Bride was not a woman she wanted to lose sight of.

Over the roar of the crowd, Eriko's mind was left to fill in the two women's actions with he own sound effects within her mind. Arms twisting, straining, the grinding sound of a wrench tightening a bolt to the point of breaking. She lift and threw, sending Devine soaring over her head as momentum flopped her back into a splash of oil, dispersing the layer of slippery liquid to show the beaten and worn floor beneath before it oozed back into place. She rolled herself over in a snappy animalistic flop, on all fours like a ravenous canine.

She had expected Devine to fall like a tree in a forest, loud and hard. What she found was a woman tucking and rolling as if she had jumped from a speeding card. The redhead flashed a smirk, nodding appreciatively of the maneuver. It wouldn't help her.

Before Devine had even reached the wall, the martial artist had pushed herself up into a runner's stance. The ball of her feet ground through the oil, roughly pivoting slightly side to side until she felt the friction burn of the solid ground below. She shot forward in a flash, vaulting up to her feet to take a few long strides through the oil before kicking off the floor in a leap.

She hit the oil again with a light splash, on one knee, using her shin like a rilutter to help direct her way as she rapidly slid through the oil at the other woman. When she closed in, her legs pushed out at the floor again, popping her up just enough to try and swing her knee up and under Devine, trying to knock her up into the wall and spike her guts with one of the least forgiving parts of her anatomy.

If The Bride of Flame had managed to hammer her opponent as intended, she would twist sharply, sweeping an arm around to try and briefly capture the woman's head the limb, locking her up quickly to thrust her hip into her midsection. She would shift her weight, roughly attempting to send Devine flying away from the wall with a snappy hip toss.

In Devine’s experience, one of the biggest challenges in oil wrestling was the stability, staying upright. It could be difficult to maintain control in oil even when there wasn’t a highly skilled, strong, red headed goddess bearing down on you, but she had a good way of handling. Maintain contact, maintain movement. People often joked about her time with the pole, wondered why she still kept up with her training even though she hadn’t hit the stage in years. Well, here was the reward: balance. Precious, unassailable, balance.

It was what let her get to her feet quick, and it was would give her the chance to prepare for whatever was coming her way next, in theory.

In practice, however…

”Oh-“

Devine would’ve had more to say, but that single syllable was all she had the time for. The Bride had closed the distance in a heartbeat, far faster than she could’ve anticipated, and she was coming with full momentum behind her. A knee crashed into Devine’s breadbasket, hammering her against the wall with enough force to make the entire pit shake. Above them, one of the salarymen nearly lost his drink, splashing a few drops on the combatants before he was able to save the rest.

Gasping, choking, Devine had little time to gather her wits before the Bride seized both the moment and her head, capturing it under her arm. With a hard twist, the Brazilian Beauty was sent flying again, hurled over the mat, and her agility wouldn’t be able to save her poise this time - not when she was having still recovering from that harsh hit. The audience hissed and clapped as she went tumbling, flipping and rolling along the mat, coming to a step near the center, laying flat on her chest.

Devine started to push her way back up, but it was slow going this time thanks to that knee. It hadn’t done too much damage on its lonesome, but it left her winded, and she would need a second to shake it off - a second she probably wasn’t going to be allowed. To make matters worse, she wasn’t wholly sure where she was in relation to the Bride, with all that tumbling making a mess of her senses. She shook her head, wiped some of the oil out of her eyes, trying to at least find her opponent, but...

The audience was in for a show. Devine was an outsider, a stranger, a threat. Against drunken handsy patrons, she was considerably gentle. With the other girls who worked The Pit, she knew their limits and weaknesses fairly well so was able to dial back. Against this Brazilian woman however, she was pulling no punches which was apparent the moment she had ground her knee into her abs. From there she continued her claim of intended to toss her around the ring with yet another, sending her off with a rude tumble in the oil.

Eriko turned towards the wall, pressing the bottom of one foot and her palms to it. Her sprint earlier had been used to cover far more distance, right now she needed something quicker to pursue. So she did what most people fail to think of, and pushed herself hard off the wall, not even trying to get traction with her feet. Physics did her job for her, easily gliding her way right up towards Devine without even trying to beat her to a rise.

She as more than happy to welcome her back up though, letting her hand dip into the oil, using it to provide some resistance to turn her sideways as she slid. Once that was done all she had to do was close a bit more distance and then…

She slapped her palms into the oil, kicking her feet out at the ground in unison to throw her body up into the air. Not high at all, but enough to vault herself at Devine sideways, attempting to slam I the woman and drag her down into the oil with a cross body block. She would try to pull it through, and if able to loop her arm back around both of the other woman's legs, securing them for a pinfall attempt.

The Bride was good, and Devine was starting to suspect her experience didn’t just come this oil pit. While she wouldn’t label herself with the fancy title of ‘martial artist’, she’d been around them enough to recognize the sort, to know the way one moved and carried her body. This champion had the build of a fighter and the knowledge to use it, and if they’d met in the squared circle? All this would likely be going much, much worse for the Brazilian.

Not that she was daunted by that fact. It was just nice to have hard data.

She was assessing the situation as she started to push her way back up, looking around, desperate to draw a bead on the Bride, and it didn’t take long to find her - Devine could have used a lot of words to describe this woman, but subtle would never be one of them. She pushed about, maneuvered onto her side, put in perfect position for what came next. Devine looked skyward to see a red comet heading straight towards her, a human missile with her as the intended targeted, and there was no time to do anything but watch, brace for the impact, and marvel at how well the Bride fit into that lovely bikini.

None of that was helpful, though, and she wound up getting smashed into the mat, hammered under her opponent’s body. The Bride wasn’t particularly heavy, couldn’t have weighed over 140 pounds soaking wet, but she was solid - a tough, strong build with little give. It left Devine gasping for air underneath, spitting out some of the oil that had found its way into her throat, and that was far from the worst of it.

”1…!”

The announcer cried out and the audience followed suit, filling the room with their call. Her legs were secure, kept tight in the hold. Not the best position to be, damn sure not this early, but it was what it was.

”2…!”

The announcer’s lips had scarcely stopped moving before Devine let out a hard grunt and put her all into the kick, throwing her shoulder up and twisting about, squirming away from her foe. She flopped over to her back and immediately brought her arms up, nice and tight to her chest, protecting her neck and giving the Bride as little to grab onto as possible, trying to limit her options.

Trying was the operative word, though. The Bride was too good to give up her assault entirely, and it was up to Devine to stop her momentum before she was swept away in the maelstrom.

The Bride of Flame had been quick to scoop up Devine's legs as she was sent backwards onto the oil, looping her arm around both to pull them in close using the crook of the outside of her knees to lock them in. An often overlooked part of working in the slippery stuff was being able to grab hold of things and keep hold of them, something Eriko seemed very practiced at. The two women slid for a moment along the oil before coming to a slow stop where the count had finally begun.

The martial artist had done her best to make the situation as difficult as possible for the Brazilian. Covering as much of her body as possible as she could, becoming dead weight with the added curl up of keeping her legs in check. It was early for a pin, but possible to snag an early one. There was always a chance.

It was not to be though. Devine kicked hard, pulling Eriko along her oil slicked body to carry her almost off completely. As her opponent squirmed to escape from beneath her, the redhead rolled off of where she still had remained to separate the two of them and establish herself back on hands and knees. Her crisp blue eyes narrowing slightly, analyzing Devine's defense technique.

"Oh, don't cover up on my account." She was not pleased. While it did little to help Devine win the match, it did quite a lot to deter Eriko's approach. The other woman understood one of the fundamentals of wrestling in oil, which was making yourself hard to grab and keep hold of. To some, it may have looked like an easy target, crawl up and hammer the woman on the defensive. The redhead saw a trap. A position hard to siege, and a defensive line of those long legs that could easily ensnare her. To her, this was far more dangerous than when Devine had been upright.

Slowly, she started to circle, testing to see if Devine understood what Eriko gauged was someone pressing an advantage. If the woman kept her legs forward between them, she would have to think of a new approach. If this was however someone just trying to protect themselves and she was able to get far enough around the woman to approach from the side, she would promptly do so, quickly looking to close the distance from an unprotected flank.

”Ohoho!” The announcer’s chortle filled the room. ”It seems our challenger is going on the defensive! Not losing her nerve, I hope!”

Far from it, actually. While it was true that Devine would rather be on the offensive with a woman like the Bride, she couldn’t forget the importance of being prudent, either. She’d always been fairly decent on a Chessboard, and this pit was much the same in many ways - positioning was key, leaning how to adapt to a changing situation, and there was no overstating how important it was to have some semblance of a plan. Merely going on the attack would’ve given the Bride an opening, one she could’ve seized with ease.

Her patience paid off immediately. Yes, the crowd egged the redhead on, calling for her to leap in and lash out, but she kept a distance for the moment. That moment was one that Devine spent catching her breath, thinking, and waiting for an opportunity of her own.

And the chance for more banter, of course.”Just giving you a view to enjoy.” Devine gave her rump a good shake, letting it whip a few droplets her opponent’s way. There were many stereotypes about Brazilians and their asses, but she was in no hurry to dispel them.

Wasting little time, the Bride started to move around her, looking for a new angle. Devine didn’t change her position in response, but she rose up slightly, the muscles along her back tensing, making subtle changes. They wouldn’t stick out to most of the patrons, but a keen eye would see them for what they were: threats. Hints. Daring the Bride to take a chance.

And she answered that dare with action, moving in from Devine’s flank. Seeing the danger, Devine pivoted on her knee to face her fast, juked to the side with her palms flat on the mat, then threw herself out, low and fast, hurling her full weight towards the Bride’s toned stomach with outstretched, looking to plow  into her and drag her down to the mat with her on top.

"Mmm, thoughtful but I preferred the view of you underneath me, losing" Hand over hand she strafed through the oil like a prowling predator, smirking at her opponent all the while. Eriko was always Happy to chat in the ring when the opportunity arose. She learned so much more about who a person was when they weren't in a carefully constructed social atmosphere.

"I will have your on your back most of this match without you having to do it yourself." She inched closer… closer… just before she was about to make a move herself, the Brazilian sprang forward, colliding into her. She let out a breathy huff at the impact, being dragged down into the oil on her back. This was potentially bad, but she could salvage this.

She tilted her upper body, attempting to slip her arms around Devine. One arm hooking over the woman's shoulder on one side, the other slipped under her arm on the other. She brought her hands together, trying to hook her fingers into on another to create a firm lock. While it didn't get the other woman off her, it would hold her in place and limit what she could do, in theory.

"Feeling feisty again?" Her legs spread wide, knee pointing up and to the side. The move served for her offense as well as defense. The last thing she wanted was to get herself wrapped up by Devine's legs or find herself intertwined in a grapevine. She was trying to create a strong base in which to possibly roll the two of them once she was settled or maybe enough attempt to scissor her.

Devine would have to thank whoever it was that choose the coconut oil for this little bout - tasteless, odorless, and it didn’t sting when it got into her eyes, bothering her no more than water would’ve, despite the abundance. A good thing, because as she tackled the Bride and went to the floor, much of the stuff went up her nose, and she doubted that would be the last of it.

”Being on top isn’t the same thing as being in control.” She threw that little response out, right as she bringing the Bride down and taking that very position. As if to prove her own point, strong arms immediately wrapped about her upper body, pulling them close, anchoring Devine to the floor. She started to spread her legs, looking for a grapevine, but she was beaten the punch there, too, as those thick, succulent spread out and raised.

Maybe she could’ve still secured that hold. Maybe. But it wouldn’t have been worth the effort to try. Smart, smart woman.

The first order of business was making sure that she didn’t let those legs get wrapped around her waist, something she feared more after seeing the Bride explode across the Pit. She lifted her hips up, just enough to get one leg over that rounded hip, straddling her opponent’s thighs and limiting her options. It wouldn’t get her out, no, but she liked the peace of mind.

Plus, it opened the way for some fun.

”Oh, I am eternally feisty.” Thrusting forward, Devine began to rub her thigh against the Bride’s crotched, teasing at the gentle flesh underneath. She started slow, a good hard grind, before throwing in a few quick pumps. Nothing too serious, not just yet. Testing. Watching. Assessing. All the while, she brought their faces together, forehead to forehead, eye to eye, but not quite lip to lip - she kept her mouth a couple of scant inches away from the Bride’s, enough for them to share breath, to make every word a potential kiss.

”Tell me,” She ran a hand through her opponent’s lovely mane, brushing a few stray strands away, making sure nothing broke their gaze. ”How do you like this view?”