Death Becomes Her

Six years.

It had been, give or take, six years since Valley Doll came to the AFW, looking for work in her favorite sport and joining the massive roster. Ups and downs? Plenty.  It had been a wild ride, but at the end of it, she’d come out with a championship, a girlfriend and potential wife, and lots of friends and great matches to go along with them. Couldn’t have asked for more.

She’d done all that she had to do in Friction. She’d proven herself. There were scores that she could have settled, yes, but if there was one thing that she learned in life from wrestling, it was that some dogs were better left lying. She was content to just move on to Tension and start up new experiences there, try her skills against the new talent popping up. A chance to stay fresh on the downward slope of her career. She was content with that, fading out of the Tension scene and letting bright, new stars take the spotlight.

Friction management, however, had other ideas.

She didn’t want to do this. She really didn’t. But they saw some value in milking her image, so here she was. In the ring, sitting along with Kaylee, as the two of them got ready for a This Is Your Life segment.

Valley kept her smile on, even if she was a bit irritated by the whole affair. It had been a fun time so far, as the two of them recalled some of her better matches, went over some fun moments, even dipped into her time with the Slamazons. A fun, jaunty stroll down memory lane.

Frankly, though, Valley wasn’t unhappy that they were nearing the end of it all. She was aching to get out of these lights and into her shower. Maybe even with Ace, if the timing was right.

Thankfully, there was another upside to this - she got to spend time with her one of her biggest, most special fans. None other than...

Kaylee had been thrilled when Friction management offered her the chance to host Valley’s farewell segment in Friction. Sure, she wasn’t their FIRST choice, as they had wanted Silver Ace, but with the woman being away from the ring for the time being, they went with the girl who knew Valley from before she had joined the league. So here she was, actually wearing clothes for a change, even if it was just booty shorts and an old Slamazons T-shirt, enjoying getting to go over the history of one of her idols...even if Valley halted her attempts at getting one last grope or ear nibble in.

Finally, after a brief video package, Kaylee stood up, mic in hand. “This has been one pretty fun night so far Val, but I have to be honest...I’m not the only one who wants to speak to you tonight. We’ve got several of your toughest opponents and best rivals to share their thoughts on your final Friction night!”

With that, she gestured up to the AFW-Tron, the giant screen starting to flash. “First up, one of your toughest opponents, with whom you had a brutal ladder match with, another one of the famous Four Horsewomen of AFW, former Entropy Champion...The Amazon, Alaina Sanders!”

Alaina angled the camera in front of herself adjusting her white sports bra to make sure it fot just right.  The camera was only catching her upper body but she was all right with that.  A woman whom she liked, hated inside the ropes for a simple lack of success against her and liked all over again for her ability was going to Tension.  Alaina wanted to film a bit of a goodbye and get a few things off her chest.

"Well here it is.  The great Valley Doll is off to Tension to mix it up with the guys.  I have wrestled over there a good bit and wanted to wish you all the best.  I know we haven't always seen eye to eye but I know you will make a mark over there.  Anyone who has beaten me twice has to be an immediate title threat even against the boys after all."  Alaina said with a smile before pausing.  She took a bit of a breath, the part about admitting defeat time and time again against Valley still stinging a bit.

"Don't think you have seen the last of me either. I will still track you down and step on the ring with you any time and I won't be the one defeated."  She added with a wink.  "You really are one of the best though, and that has to be expected being the daughter of one of my favorite lady wrestlers of all time.  Knock'em silly or I will come slam some sense in to you."  Alaina added before blowing a kiss towards the camera, reaching out to shut it off.

There was no hiding the smile that brought from Valley. It was always good to see Alaina. The two of their AFW careers had been oddly linked, with both of them being really the first thing they could’ve classified as ‘rivals’. Friends, enemies, frenemies...it was hard to keep track of where the two of them stood, sometimes. But it was good to know that, regardless, Alaina still had happy words for her.

After Alaina’s heartwarming message, Kaylee held up a second finger. “Next up...a bit of  a blast from the past, we haven’t seen her around in some time, but this up and comer, a former Co-Entropy Champion, and one of the shining stars of the Higurashi Dojo, was by far the toughest challenger to your claim as Queen of the Sky...let’s hear from...Julia Rogers!” she yelled, pointing again as the masked woman appeared on the screen!

"Hey there, Val! Been a while, hasn't it? Sorry I couldn't make it over to tell ya in person, but I heard about the jump from Friction to Tension and just wanted t' wish ya well. I know the Tokyo fans are gonna miss the hell outta you just like I do, but the Kyoto fans are in for a treat, and I'm sure they'll know that soon if they don't already. So keep kickn' ass and flyin' higher than everyone else!"

Now, that was a surprise. Not that pleasant words from Julia could catch her off guard - the two of them had a healthy, great rivalry, back in the day. But it had been a while since the two of them had clashed, and she wasn’t sure what become of the cowgirl. Seeing her back and up again brought back so many memories, so many great spots, and even now she was starting to feel that competitive tingle. She just hoped someone in Tension could scratch that itch.

Kaylee joined the crowd in their applause, for the under rated high flyer, before speaking again.

"Wow, great words, from one of Frictions most popular young stars. I gotta say, this has been such a fun night, celebrating Valley's career here in friction. This woman has certainly fought and beaten the best in her time here! But we aren't done just yet folks, we've got one more star wanting to share her thoughts, so let's pull up the video!"

A genuinely jovial atmosphere from the appreciative audience helped make the farewell segment for the vaunted veteran all the more wholesome and even downright touching in some regards. Panning shots of clapping fans brandishing Valley Doll merchandise showed the world watching just how much of an impact the former Slamazon had made during her Friction run. The younger fanbase of starry-eyed little girls even getting somewhat weepy from knowing that Valley may never be stepping inside a Friction ring ever again, and that this was all just one more step towards the direction of the dreaded "R" word and her one day hanging up her wrestling boots for good. Still...they put on a brave-face for the highly promoted event that AFW made sure to publicize through commercials, e-mails, tweets, and even carrier pigeon if that form of communication was still in use. This was a commemorative ceremony meant to formally bid adieu to one of AFW's most professional, classy, and downright talented high-flying ambassador's to the sport...and everyone was eager to hear the next words of praise to come from the next guest on the Titan-tron...

???:

Except that only distorted, granular static would be broadcast to the perplexed masses. The garbled noises not being any more welcomed to the senses as the announcer's were quick to insist that this was just a minor technical hiccup and that able-minded professional's will be correcting this embarrassing snafu momentarily...until one sole image was beginning to become more and more visible as time went on...eventually forming a...

...:

Billowing fog began arising from the depths until it engulfed the ramp and surrounding ring area as the houselights went absolutely pitch-black. Nothing being seen or illuminating the arena anymore aside from the sparkling stars of people's cellphone lights and the flickering eeriness of the human skull upon the Titan-tron. Those same commentator's now having no more words to feign explanations with as a sense of dire and bone-chilling dread brought the events to a standstill...until from the speakers came one single...solitary...sound...repeated continuously and with a rampant fervor pulsating through the arena from those who knew who those bells tolled for. And for whom they signaled her arrival. The palpable unease and tension in the air being upended by the sudden illumination of the arena and the appearance of the bunny-eared DEAD WOMAN standing right behind Kaylee and Valley. Standing stoically in the middle of the ring...and brandishing a small black bat in her right hand. Neither woman having much time to react once they finally sensed something behind them, Kaylee being clocked with the tip of the bat right against the side of her face with Valley getting the same treatment only aimed straight at her breadbasket!!!

Ah, yes, Valley Doll’s old friend - random static.

The Slamazon let out a short sigh and chuckled as management scrambled to get everything fixed. It was honestly a little shoddy of them - while the AFW had been many things since she came around, cheap and sloppy were rarely one of them. She found herself wishing that they’d taken her suggestion for only doing live, in person guests instead of recordings, but no, they bought that big, fancy screen, and by God, they were going to use it.

It was worth a laugh to her, but the crowd didn’t find it so amusing. Murmuring, restless stirring, and the infrequent booing was beginning to become less infrequent. They would need something to hold their attention, if only for a short while, or else they’d turn on this segment in a heartbeat.

Valley thought she had an idea of that front, and she turned to her younger counterpart wagging a finger her way. ”Hey, Kaylee.” She smirked and leaned forward. ”Do you want...to…”

And that was when she saw it. The skull in the screaming, looming large, a foreboding omen that sent a chill down her spine. Before the lights went out and the fog rose, she already knew that something was wrong. The tolling bells clinched it, a clear tell on who was coming. Valley didn’t know why she was coming, but it hardly mattered at the moment. ”Kaylee!” She tried to call out over the roaring crowd. ”Kaylee, get out of the ring, before-”

Too late.

Valley would later swear on her life that the spectre hadn’t been there a moment ago, that she’d appeared out of thin air behind them. She’d been wrestling long enough that she could feel the vibrations on the canvas, so attuned to it that a mouse couldn’t have snuck up on her, never mind a six foot tall woman.  But, as impossible as it was, that was precisely what happened. She saw the bat flash through the air, taking out Kaylee, and it came for her before she could even think about reacting, a battering ram that took out the walls of her stomach. Valley fell to her knees and coughed up a storm, gripping her gut as she looked up at one of the most notorious women in the AFW.  A woman who’d been with the company for about as long as she had, who’d piled on accomplishments through the years like she had, but had strangely never crossed her path. Because of management? Because of fate? Waiting for the right moment?

It didn’t matter. She was here, now, staring down on Valley like a true grim reaper.

”You.”

Death Bunny.

Kaylee had no idea what was going on. There was static, confusion...and then everything went dark and a skull appeared on the titantron, while bells started gonging about the arena.

That...that cleared things up alright...fuuuuuuuck

Despite still being very new to Friction, even Kaylee had heard of the intimidating and scary Death Bunny, and when she heard Valley's panicked cry, she instantly turned around, wide eyed and gulping...and only getting a brief flash of bunny ears and something solid flashing her way before the bat smacked her in the face, and the California Dream dropped flat onto her back, KOed in one shot!

The pillar of death made manifest stoically stood upright in the middle of the ring after having made her presence known in about as violent a method imaginable. The nocturnal shadow that she cast over the kneeling Valley being just as frigid cold as the glare she directed towards the kneeling, coughing, sputtering blonde. Not a word being uttered on her part and remaining as silent as the grave. Which was in direct opposition to the chattering blather of astonishment being overheard from the announcer's at ringside who summed up everyone's flabbergasted reactions pretty damn effectively. Those who weren't diehard dark rabbit enthusiasts were booing the Dead Woman wholeheartedly, while those in her deathly camp cheered vehemently and were losing their proverbial shit at this unexpected turn of events. Both parties could still unilaterally agree that this was a monumental moment. A meeting of two veritable legends in the industry who had diametrically opposing careers, and were never fathomed to ever be sharing the same ring.

"..."

The tip of D.B.'s bat touched the canvas as her deadened eyes remained locked onto Valley's with only a mirthless scowl on her face. By now it was apparently obvious for whom those earlier bells tolled for given the attention that the Grim Hopper was giving the Slamazon. Valley may not have known this at the moment, or even cared to know this, but she was currently being sized up her bunny-eared attacker. All this overheard praise and fawning over this woman from those earlier vignettes...she was earnestly curious to meet this woman upfront. As to either all of those accolades from her friends was warranted would be a question answered at another day. Another day very soon. But there was a method to all of this madness...and a valid reason as to why Bunny had opted to interrupt this jovial trip down memory lane with a sudden turn off the road and into a ditch. But...first things first. D.B. casually sheathed the bat within the inner linings of her trenchcoat...and made a foreboding approach towards the comatose Californian, Kaylee. She reached down to clamp her hand on Kaylee's hair to "escort" the host for the evening back to her feet...and promptly clench her hand around the girl's throat. After positioning Kay's arm over her shoulder, D.B. hoisted her as high into the air as she could muster. At one point holding her one handed before choke-slamming her down to Earth with a meteoric slam that even had the chairs and tables vibrating.

It was like something out of a nightmare. A really, really strange nightmare, but one all the same.

Valley was hurting, seriously hurting after that sneak attack, but that wasn't the only thing that was keeping her down. There was this foreboding presence in the ring now, like a thick miasma clawing away at her throat, as if just being in Death Bunny’s presence was enough to make her body go into shock. She couldn’t explain it, but she couldn’t explain why the woman was here in the first place - it wasn’t like she had any vendetta against the woman. They’d never even competed for the same belt. So why…

That question was put on the backburner as a more immediate one presented itself. Death Bunny wasn’t moving towards her, anymore, she was moving towards Kaylee. Reaching down, grabbing her by the hair, lifting her up, and-

”No!”

Valley tried to rise to her feet, hoped to move in and save her, but it was too little and far too late. Her legs failed, she fell down to her knees, which put her in the perfect spot to watch as Kaylee slammed into the canvas with enough force to rattle the ring.

”No! Damn it!” She cringed and reached out to the side, using the ropes for support as she pulled up to her feet and faced the towering menace. ”You psycho! What do you want?”

Well...name-calling just seemed uncalled for. Not that "psycho" was the worst moniker levied against her in her years of bringing loathsome misery upon others and reaping the souls of the less than fortunate. It was rather tame in comparison. But Valley was a seasoned veteran. She should already have the answer to her rather obvious question regardless, simply from witnessing the cold calculation of the carnage unfolding. If not...well, D.B. was willing to spell it out for her before the night was over and she had made doubly sure her point was made. The Phenom turning her grave attention back towards Valley with as morose and unfeeling an expression she entered with.

Although Valley may regret attracting the attention of the Avatar Of Death once she started marching in her direction with an almost levitating glide to her steps hidden behind the shawl of her tattered trenchcoat. Valley perhaps not getting the answer she wanted as D.B. plowed her boot into Slamazons' gut before hauling her back to the middle of the ring and stuffing her head betwixt the smooth and powerful contours of D.B.'s thighs. A dual thumbs down signaling what was to come. A sudden upheaval slotting Valley atop The Dead Woman's shoulders for several seconds before being powerbombed straight through the interview table that was the (former) center piece of tonight's festivities.

It was, of course, a rhetorical question. Valley knew exactly what Death Bunny wanted, the second the lights went out and she realized exactly what was going. Not just because wrestling tradition was all too clear on the way things were supposed to go - ultimately, all conflicts in wrestling could only be resolved one way, and there wasn’t a fan in the audience who didn’t know it.

But, even more than that, she was familiar with this woman - or, at least, her reputation. She was the type who spoke with actions, and her actions here had all the characteristics of a gauntlet thrown at Valley’s feet. This was a challenge. A demand.

If that wasn’t clear enough already, Death Bunny’s next actions hammered the message home. A kick in the gut, bent Valley over, and from there, it all went by the natural progression. She was stuff in between Death Bunny’s legs and roughly hurled up, lifted like she was nothing but a little child. Valley stretched her arms out, reaching forward like she might’ve been able to grab the ropes and save herself...but that didn’t happen.

Down she came, crashing into the table with an impact that made the stadium tremble, splitting the table in two and leaving her as a wreck in the middle of it, stretched out, back arched in pain, writhing around in the wood, a wounded animal.

Message received.

D.B.'s bunny-eared aura eclipsed the chaotic splendor now strewn all about the ring, her ruthless assault seemingly coming to it's booming conclusion given that none were left standing in her cataclysmic wake and the collateral damage had reached it's apex. The ring canvas still jostling somewhat long after Valley's office table collision with only the unfeeling stillness of D.B.'s gaze being directed down towards her. Officials had begun to huddle around the ring, all eager to offer first aid and assistance to the fallen inside as soon as the cause of all this mayhem had exited the ring. The Grim Hopper then casually unveiling a microphone from her trenchcoat pocket before bending her knees and balancing herself on her toes.

"Your friend over there said that...you had fought and beaten the best. You know something? I'd have to disagree with her on that one." D.B. imposingly imparted at the battered Slamazon before flicking her mic to the side to have it go tumbling.The deathly avatar standing tall and emphatically popping the collars of her coat before making a strolling beeline exit out of the ring. Spelling it out for everyone watching and for her Slamazon fixation as medical personnel swarmed the ring soon after The Grim Hopper started marching up the ramp in an exit far more conventional than her entrance.