Showdown '19 Alice Gaster (C) vs Drake Fond: 24/7 Championship Match

"This way..."

"Wait...you said you invited me to watch your match...I thought it would be in the ri---, Clara paused in realization while Alice was carrying her backstage by hand, AFW cameramen following close by:

"So, you remembered?", the smaller Gaster smiled at her sister.

"You are the 24/7 Champion...the match won't be in the ring...", Clara would disappointingly tell her sister: "So the reason you invited me to Showdown is...?", Clara asked fearfully. She has been sitting on her seat for the first match on the card, taking a break to buy snacks at second (planning a trip at that specific match), before she was suddenly grabbed by the hand by her sister shortly after that match was done...and now, they were firmly in the backstage of the Tension Arena, Alice dragging her sister in one hand, and a new Kendo Stick in another, her title draped over her shoulder.

Upon a little bit of a pause, Alice finally replied: "Backup..."

"Backup for what...?"

As they slowly came to their destination in the heart of the arena, Alice and Clara finally came to a stop where the ref was waiting, very close to the male locker rooms.

Alice then explained to her sister what had occured a few weeks ago, how she was ambushed by a group of men before being further beaten down...and berated by her opponent tonight - Drake Ford. He did not deem Alice "worthy" enough as a champion to take the title from her, while hiding between a group of goons to beat her down first...and tonight, she would make sure things were different.

"W-wait...how many people did he get on you last time?"

"I dunno...I lost count when I knocked the teeth out of the third guy."

"I won't be able to take down 3 people! Why didn't you call someone else as well?"

"No one returned my calls. Now, put your mask on, he is coming."

With a worried sigh, Clara obeyed. She should've guessed something was afoot when Alice requested her to bring her mask, though she assumed at first it would've been for a shot of her in the crowd in between matches, to show her enjoying the show...and now it seemed, she was about to become a participant...

The referee decided to stand near an empty space just in front of the male locker room, various hallways all spiraling out and branching off to other buildings. The gym, the arena, the interview area, the gorilla position were all close locations. One could only speculate why the referee chose the empty space of all places, perhaps their attempt to stay out of others way. It was well known how…barren, the Male locker room tended to be. The amount of male participants in the AFW was easily a fraction of the female competitors. Makes sense, considering the title of the federation.

Or perhaps this was all Alice’s idea? She was the puppet master of this shambling mess of a fight. When Drake had received such a request, he couldn’t help but laugh in his office. How comical, and yet disgusting all the same! Didn’t this poor girl get it? Was she truly so blind? He understood how fragile ego’s could be, as he had usually used that against his enemies in the past, but this was simply too much. In the end, it really wasn’t too much of a choice. The match game from up top in the federation, and while Drake truly had no intention of indulging Alice any longer, he knew full well that ignoring this fight would be more trouble then it was worth. It would get the head of the company on his back, and Alice didn’t seem smart or merciful enough to simply leave her tormentor be.

So in retaliation, the one eyed man planned a sort of…prank on her.

Due to the winding web of halls that intersected at that empty part of the room, it was difficult to pin point where a voice or sound could be coming from. A voice coming down from one hall could sound as though it was coming from another. An interesting tidbit of information, if one knew of it. It made the referee, or Alice’s, selection of location all the more peculiar, but no less appreciated for the time being.

The sound of foot falls would echo out in front of the Pale Rider and her demonic, villainous sister. The sound of humming echoed down not one, but seemingly three of the long empty halls in front of the pair of villains. The long empty corridors bounced off one another, the constant sound of footfalls like the drip of a leaky fountain, the humming just quiet enough to allow the steps to be consistently audible.  The noise swirled together, making it difficult to tell which of the three halls were the source of such noise.

Only for a pair of gloved hands to suddenly grasp both Alice’s and GASTER’S shoulders from behind.

“Well well, isn’t this a fine surprise? If it isn’t everyone’s favorite champ here and well.”

Drake’s smug grin would be what greeted the two girls as they looked over their shoulder. Each one was surprisingly pointed and sharp, like those of a shark or canine. The man appeared kind, but came off as anything but, his yellowish red eye rolling over towards the empty orbs of GASTER’s mask. Even though he could not see the girl’s face beneath, his grin turned into a smirk.

"Ah, I see you brought your sister along with you! Dear Clara~ Well, I figured after your recent tragic run in with those goons at the mall you would desire some...company. Naturally, little GASTER would be your first choice. Sibling love is always so sweet, don't you think?” The man said with a business like tone as he shook the young woman’s hand, “I’m sure you get this often, but I think it is so brave of you to try and cater towards the little ones in the AFW audience. I’m sure they get a kick in seeing you play the bumbling cartoon villain.”

Drake’s grin came back as he released the masked woman's hand, strolling over to the opposite side of the room where the footsteps and humming originated. He didn’t seem to mind turning his back to the two women, his eye pretending to scan the area around them, as though it were all new to him.

“Yes…You two are so lucky. But that does leave me at a bit of a disadvantage. Thankfully I had the foresight to predict such a...well, predictable move. As such, I brought along a couple of my own friends."

It was only then then a woman seemed to make her presence know, exiting from on of the many hallways and walking to Drake’s side. She wore a dress suit, the color entirely like black, not unlike Drake’s own. Her long black hair was mostly pulled back into a pony tail, with a small portion covering one of her cold grey eyes. She gave off an incredibly cold and indifferent feel to her. She looked over Alice and GASTER as one might look over the terms of service for an online program, never greeting them or saying anything to them really.

Rin:

"This young woman is my personal assistant. Please just call her Rin. She is usually by my side and I’m afraid I simply couldn't shake her on the way here. Forgive her cold impression, but she really isn't the chatter box type. My other associates however…”

On cue, two men stepped out from the men’s locker room. Neither of them were AFW competitors, just two of Drake’s allies lying in wait to be summoned. One was a huge hulk of a man that seemed to be crammed in a dress shirt and vest. His scarred, muscular arms bulged in the tight sleeves as though they would tear them apart at any second. The other man was the only one in Drake’s group who didn’t wear formal clothing, instead donning a motorcycle jacket and pant’s complete with small bits of body armor in certain areas.

“Well…Brutus here, he loves to talk...Especially with his fists! It gets the impression across much faster, don't you think? Nobody wins an argument with dear Brutus.” Drake said with an eerie sense of calm in his voice as the hulking man crossed his arms. “Oh, and we can’t forget about Kaine. Don’t let his charming face fool ya…he’s a scrapper, that one!”

Brutus:

Kaine:

Drake was making it abundantly clear what he was doing without saying a word. At least not directly. This group, these friends of his were a show of arms to Alice. Something to instill not only fear, but regret. The influence Drake had at his disposal was near shrouded in mystery, yet here he stood with a trio of very dangerous looking individuals.

“To be honest I thought you would bring along Melody or perhaps even the other one...ah, what’s her name? Well, doesn't matter, does it? So long as young GASTER remembers what she is here for, then she will get no complaints out of me. Tell me Alice…are you feeling safer now?”

Drake’s eye narrowed into a cruel glare, the smug smile on his lips taunting her ever so subtly. There was a message in that glare, something only Alice would understand. The one eyed man wanted to e sure Alice knew she only walked away last time because he let her…and she would not be so lucky again.

Spoiler:

With how long the hallways in Tension arena were, and how many people there were in the various corridors besides near the locker rooms, it was definitely diifficult to tell apart whereever someone might come from, as echos coming from the other side of the building sounded quite close to being here...

...and the steps coming towards them seemed like they were quite far away. That is, until both sisters felt a hand grasp their respective shoulders:

"Waaah!", the startled older sister yelped out, while Alice simply brushed the hand off, and brought her weapon forward.

In truth, Alice wanted to start the match right here, and right now, and slam the stick across Drake's smug, mocking face to shut him up and beat him up...

...but from last time, she knew he didn't fight fair. Jumping right in the middle of things, before she even knew how many cards he had in his hands was not the smartest thing to do.

Clara, meanwhile, simply stared at Drake, with half-determined, half-scared look on her face. Of course, the mask hid that, else Drake would get an even smugger look on his face at GASTER's expense.

But it didn't stop his grin from getting even bigger when Drake saw her with his unpatched eye, and took to shake her hand in a buisness-like manner. Using her real name in that tone sent shivers down the older sister's spine...but that wouldn't mean that she wouldn't stand up for herself, as she pulled her hand away and spoke:

"Mwahaha! And how do you know that it wouldn't be you playing that role, eyepatched fool?!"

Alice smiled at Clara. Getting into character seemed to make her more confident. That was good on her end, since she expected Drake to reveal his main plan for the match in a second...and she did notice steps echoing around the corridors getting louder this time, and as Drake explained himself, this wasn't a coincidence.

A dark-haired woman in a suit strolled out of the shadows towards the locker room, her look best described as cold and indifferent towards them. Whoever Rin was, she was here on pure buisness sense. Alice half-expected her to say: "Nothing personal" any second now.

Still, both sisters thought. Even if Rin was as strong as described, this was still a 2 on 2 encounter, fairly managable----

"My other associates however"

And then 2 men, one a hulking mass of muscle bursting out of his clothes and the other wearing motorcycle jacket with body armor in places, walked out of the shadows, introduced to the 2 sisters as Brutus and Kaine.

Clara, her eyes completely wide-open, turned to Alice...and her sister's confident grin was unchanged from a second ago. The shock of Brutus and Kaine wearing off, the masked chuuni was now shocked that her sister actually expected the 2 of them to successfully fight the 4

As Drake put it, Clara would have WISHED to have Melody and Navi on her side...alas, the duo were on vacation from wrestling for a little while, completely out of the country.

"Um...excuse us for a bit.", Clara would sasy as she grabbed her sister's arm, trying to carry her to the men's locker room...

...except Alice already jumped at Drake.

She saw his cruel glare, she saw his taunting smile, she knew the odds were completely against them...

...and she simply didn't care, as she took her kendo stick with both hands, mid-jump, to nail it across the man's face!

As Drake was wrapping up his presentation, he carefully kept his eye on Alice. He had done his research, as he always did. He knew all about her little anger issues and her pride. He knew she was still steaming over her humiliation he delivered to her, otherwise why go on with this fight? Drake had expressed little interest in the belt and allowed her to keep the trinket. The only reason to start a fight was to reclaim her pride, and that was what this was all about. So, like any decent backstabber, he prodded her weakness. Poked it, jabbed at it. Showing his forces, the elaborate ruse to trick her, each and ever expression was planned, and like a good little soldier Alice was buying every piece of junk merchandise Drake was selling! He could see her hand tighten around that cheap weapon he knew she would bring! He could SEE the muscles in her cheek pull back further as he glared at her. Drake could have written a script it was going so well! On top of all of that, the poor simpering dog couldn’t even gather any proper allies! Drake was well aware of GASTER and her combat performance in most of her matches.

It was bad comedy.

Like a good little puppet, Alice was dancing along with every string Drake pulled. The grin on her face after all of the odds stood in her way practically confirmed what would happen next. Drake was excited to see what other tricks he could make her do in the short amount of time it would take to bulldoze over her and her sister.

Clara seemed surprised at how bad their situation was and wisely attempted to pull Alice back in and attempt to regroup and rethink exactly what they were doing there. It was a shame, but no surprise, when instead Alice would simply charge Drake, wielding her toy sword about as though it was intimidating in the slightest. She was actually dumber than he had thought previously, or just as enraptured with anime and comics as her older sister. Because rather then do anything sensible in the face of an enemy who outnumbers and likely outguns her, she instead decided to jump into the air, completely ready to smack her kendo stick across Drake’s face as though he were the forbidden evil that tainted her life. Problem was, that trick only worked in television shows, and even then, the villain was usually on their last legs, not prepped and ready for a war.

With his experience in the slight of hand, Drake would flick his arm, a small metal rod falling from his sleeve and into his grip. With an audible click, the rod extended itself, revealing Drake had brought a weapon of his own. A self defense baton, to be precise.

With ease, he raised it over his head and intercepted the wooden stick, the impact crating a loud SNAP through the room. The mid-air jump would likely come back to haunt Alice, as Drake would try to earn some distance by kicking the smaller girl in the stomach before she could properly land.

“Tsk tsk tsk Not very original, are you?” The one-eyed man preened, Kaine and Brutus moving towards each side of the room while Rin remained with Drake. Brutus seemed to have his eyes on GASTER, lumbering a bit closer towards her. Rin stood by just close enough to assist Drake, yet remain out of his way. Her cold eyes watching Alice as her allies circled the enemy team.

“This may be your party, Alice but really…Dragging us all out here before we can listen to the rules?”

Drake was ready and capable of defending himself, but he knew stretching the introduction out would get under Alice’s skin. The angrier the foe, the easier he is to read. With his overwhelming advantage, Drake was fine to hold off pressing his attack…after all, he didn’t want to go by too fast.

In truth, Drake was right. Alice might not have fully realized it, but she was an incredibly proudful lady. Proudful of her heritage, proudful of her status as a hardcore fighter...and when that was questioned? She got angry...

She went through anger of having her deck set up against her to a smile of determination as she jumped out with little thinking at Drake, plans be damned...

...and quickly, she would pay for it.

Her Kendo Stick wouldn't find it's mark as it cracked against Drake's baton, Alice managing to land on her feet, and trying to use a second to balance herself up...

...only for Drake to bury his leg in her stomach!

"GAGH!!"

Alice fell onto her knee, holding her hurting stomach, as Clara noticed the large men closing their distance towards the competitors...and felt a dark look fall on her from Brutus, her back straightening itself as she felt every single sensation imaginable go down her spine.

Alice was tired of Drake talking, angry even. No matter what she did, it always seemed she was playing by his rules and playing against them wasn't an option...

...so maybe she needed to find the right moment to outplay his game.

"Alright, what did I miss in the rules? I fight people one at a time till I get to you, or Clara and your hulk over there would be the once fighting for the title?", she chuckled, intending for that last sentance to be a joke, one that Alice got a mean look from her older sister for...

“Alice! I’m rather surprised! Like I said this is your party, and yet you want my opinion on what the games should be? Heh! Well, I had imagined you devised some sort of rules for this special occasion. I’m surprised you would allow such a match to take place with so little thought…really, all this lack of preparation shows me is how wasted this 24/7 belt really is. But that doesn’t answer your question, does it?”

Drake made some space between himself and Alice, backing away to the opposite side of the room with Rin following close behind him. Kaine and Brutus stayed where they were, the bigger man crossing his arms and leaning against the wall as Kaine simply tilted his head, staring at Alice with a dull look. The two were professionals at the art of intimidation. Each of them seemed to exude hostility without so much and a dirty look on their face. It was as though violence was etched into their very beings, and the fact they worked for a crook like Drake meant that they were totally capable of inflicting damage with no regards for the rules or safety. There was no way for Alice to know Drake would bring so many goons! The man was a bag of tricks with fingers on her pulse, his ability to guess her moves becoming a vicious tool that would be difficult to overcome.

“Well Alice, I’ll try to keep my suggestion simple and easy for you. I say that we have a good and honest free-for-all! My team versus yours! Your little bag of weapons against my men’s armor and muscle! The Generals of Darkness versus my humble little company.”

Drake’s tone was like a businessman selling a pitch! His tone was addictive, swirling with subtle energy that made his subject want to move into immediate action! The yellow and red iris in his eye burned like a raging fire as his smile seemed to continuously grow across his face!

“Clara might think of it like two super villains fighting a super team, but you might see it as battling a couple of thugs! Now I‘m sure that our numerical advantage may be a daunting task to most…but since you are such an illustrious champion, and you have already defeated four or five men all by yourself…I think four of us against the champion and her sister is fair, or do you disagree?”

Drake’s showmanship brought him up close to Alice’s waiting glare. He spun his baton around with his fingers, ready to use at a moment notice as he fixed his gaze on the true target of the evening.

“I would hate to put you in a position that make you…uncomfortable.

Alice listened to Drake answering her question with sarcasm. In truth, she really just wanted the eyepatched man to stop playing mind games and actually fight...

...still, it was peculiar that she smiled when Drake mentioned her lack of preparation.

Clara meanwhile, only paid attention to the three of Drake's "goons", still completely baffled at how her sister wouldn't just leave the room, and call it a day, whether Drake took her title or not. There was bravery, there was stupidity, and then, at the very bottom of irrational decision levels, there was wanting to commit suicide.

Drake explained his pitch of the match rather simply. A free for all, 4 vs 2.

"When playing a buisnessmen while having maths skills of an ad campaign? Yeah, sure, it's fair.

Clara did not share her sister's sarcastic sense of humor.

After the agreement, everything went silent. Surprisingly, Alice did not jump at the opprotunity to start the bout, not attacking any of the four people in the room. Within 20 seconds of silence, she grew suspicious:

"I-is anyone going to start?", Clara decided to poke the bear, her attention less on her sister's current arch-nemesis or his personal bodyguard, and more on the two men accompanying him. Was it really smart for Alice to let them fire the first true shot, Clara wondered...

“Ah...humor yet again. I wish I didn’t see that coming.”

Drake’s smile did falter, his eyes temporarily leaving Alice simply to roll sarcastically. The pupil quickly returned, his smile dimmed ever so slightly as he peered into her face. Why on earth was she smiling? The odds were stacked against her, and she just allowed his forces to proceed without a single condition of her own. In the world of business, this is a suicidal move…or a disgustingly brazen one. Negotiations were practically the entire backbone of business. He had offered her the chance to list her own conditions, to lay her poor hand on the table and at least see what she was working with. The fact that she would just let it him walk all over her without so much as an argument was slightly disconcerting. If he hadn’t dug into her background and snooped through her past, he might have been worried.

Perhaps she was like so many fools…mistaking stupidity for bravery.

In the end, it was a curiosity that Drake would discard for the time being. Alice was impulsive and had a short temper. Anyone of those could be a factor as to why she just turned this fight into a two-on-one scenario. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Clara had no idea that this was going to be such a painfully lopsided fight. Her body language was so very much like a terrified rabbit. Her shoulders would shake every so often, and even behind the mask, Drake could see her red lensed mask moving from Kaine to Brutus. Back and forth, like a nervous little pet.

Silence clung to the room, Drake and Alice glaring at one another in a silent conversation. Kaine and Brutus adjusted themselves. Kaine stood up straight, uncrossing his arms in preparation for the brawl ahead. Brutus’s fists were clenched tight like two wrecking balls ready to smash and inflict destruction over anything they came into contact with. Only Rin stayed behind. Her cold grey eyes watched the entire encounter with boredom.

Alice brought this whole situation on herself…a shame she had to drag her caring sister into it. But that’s the way the world often works.

Another ten seconds of silence passed the groups by. No one was sure how to start things off. Drake’s goons were waiting for the word or for the opposite side to make a move. Alice and Clara seemed to be in a similar situation. There was so much quieter that the one-eyed man actually slipped his hand into his pocket while he clenched his self-defense baton.

Finally, a single little question would roll out through GASTER’s speakers hidden within her mask. It was a simple question but Brutus, as violent as he was, took the simple action of speaking as a threat. Like a tidal wave he lurched forward, his massive fist opening up in order to slam the smaller woman into the wall in an aggressive attempt to pin her down.

As his large brute suddenly charged, Drake would take the chance to rip his hand from his pocket, clutching a small handful of sand and dirt. Without hesitation he would fling it at Alice, his baton wielding arm swinging down in an attempt to bash his foe before she could comprehend what was happening around her!

The silence stood, Alice keeping attention to Drake for any movement, including him putting his hand in his pocket, keeping a close eye on that...

Why weren't they being jumped. Did Drake want her to put some rules in place as well? Well, little did he know, Alice thought, was

"Wa---aaaaah!"

GASTER would be surprised when her question finally started the action...for her, that is, as the much bigger Brutus would use his large hand to pin the Shadow Lord against the wall! No matter how much she resisted, the muscular man simply held her against the wall with little effort...

"L-let go!", Clara ordered Brutus.

"Crap...AARGH!"

Alice's attention quickly switched to Brutus for a millisecond...until Drake threw some powder into her eyes!

Alice's vision teared up, making it impossible for her to see or comprehend what was going on...and yet, this wasn't the first time something like this happened to her. Rule one of what to do in this case - move. Standing still would just make you an easy to hit target.

Taking a step back, she would feel a brief breeze in her direction, stepping away just in the nick of time of Drake hitting her. In response, the Pale Rider wildly swung her own weapon, hoping to, at the very least, force Drake to step away with her shot!