A Star's Return: Justice Asuka vs Satou Kazuma

Match Type: Standard
Victory Conditions: Pinfall, Submission, or KO

Satou Kazuma:

"Oh man, I'm starting to think this may not have been a good idea." Kazuma said as he looked around the backstage area nervously. The reason being that he was going into his second match in AFW so soon after his first match. It started couple of days ago, following his debut match against Edward Sealgair, it was a good match but Edward came out on top in the end. That match showed Kazuma what he needed to improve on to be able to compete in Tension so the following day he went to the gym to try and workout what he needed to do when he spotted a flyer on the door inside. It was an invitation for an open challenge from a new addition to AFW's ever growing roster of talent in Friction but the invitation also went out to the Tension roster as well.

The flyer did have one condition on it though and it was that any who accepted the challenge also had to be a newcomer to AFW. Kazuma looked at the flyer carefully, making sure this wasn't some kind of set up for something, after all in the world of wrestling set ups and ambushes weren't all that uncommon. He had just had his first match too so whomever this person was would be sure to scout him with it and the few other videos of him that were up on Youtube back when he was on the independent circuit if he stepped up while he wouldn't be able to scout her.......but then again he already had one loss and he needed to get the ball rolling for him in order to climb the ranks and maybe even get a title shot in the future. So with one more look at the Flyer he found the challenger's e-mail address and sent her his response. With that done he immediately got to work preparing himself for what was sure to be a tough match, provided they accepted it.

It was a few hours later that Kazuma would get an email from the challenger saying that the match was on for tomorrow, Which brought us to now. The match was going to start soon and there was still no sign of this person anywhere.

"Where's this girl at? Probably, still in the locker room." Kazuma sighed as he looked at the clock when one of the stagehands called out to him and told him it was time. Well it was too late to back out of the match now, time to work. So Kazuma went up the steps and waited behind the curtain, and waited for his music to play, which didn't take very long. He let the song play by it's self for a few seconds before stepping through the curtain and in front of thousands of cheering fans, it was his second time stepping out but damn did it still feel overwhelming. Wasting no time, Kazuma ran down the ramp and slid into the ring now all he had to do was wait.

Sanae Takamori was sitting on a bench in the lockers room, her mind racing around lots of different thoughts and feelings. Those were the moments in which her self should fall back and Justice Asuka stepped on the light, but it had been a lot of time since that last happened. In adition to that, she always disliked the tension of that moment of preparation before a match. When in the midst of combat her mind was at ease, but the veteran didn't like waiting like that. And being honest, now she had a lot on her mind, being this her first proper match since she joined AFW, returning to the wrestling scene.

It had been a couple of long years since Justice was force to retire from Gigamax and pro wrestling and even if she had tried to maintain her form it proved to be a difficult task while far from the rings. Not like she was feeling up to hitting the gym also. Being shoved away from the world she loved like that was devastating for Asuka, who wandered aimlessly until she focused on her landlady duties.

But in the end the wrestling itch was something that would always acompany her, like a splinter on her mind, and it was just a matter of time before her being far from the mats became unbearable. Luckily for her and even if the return of Gigamax was forbidden the AFW stepped forward, offering her a new place to wrestle.

Obviously a veteran and a champion like her coming back after years of exile was something that was expected to make a big time on the spotlight, but Sanae wasn’t feeling so pumped about all the promotional fuss they were making. After all she had been far from the rings for a couple of years and she had put up a few pounds. She was so far from her prime and the AFW bosses wanted this to look like she was coming back and aiming for the championship belt from the very beginning. At least they allowed the veteran to choose her first rivals, and that was why she issued her open challenge.

The gist was simple: Justice would issue an open challenge in search for rivals to regain her strength, but she would be asking only for people who were rookies at the AFW. That way she made sure that she wasn’t going to face a top tier rival she wasn’t ready for at that time and also helped some budding talents to show themselves and shine, all while regaining her confidence and physical prowess.

Justice Asuka returns to the ring:

“Time to go...” Justice stood up and headed backstage. She had been waiting for years to make just what she was about to do, to return to what felt like home for her. When her entrance theme started and the announcer presented her in a flashy way the crowd roared in anticipation. They were about to witness the return of a star and they knew it, but Asuka didn’t want that treatment now, she wanted to actually earn it. Justice made her way to the ring calmly, without making a fuss at the crowd. She remained friendly and greeting but her mind was on the upcoming match, she just couldn’t help it. Her easyness at the public would return in time.

When Justice made inside the ring she made a final wave at the crowd and then moved to the center of the ring, to the rival that was waiting for her. “Hey there! I’m Justice. I hope we can have a nice match.”, she greeted her rival in a friendly way, eager to see what this young man was capable of.

Kazuma was looking around the ring when an announcer came out to introduce his opponent for the night....wait a minute why didn't the announcer come out for him?!

"Ladies and Gentlemen, now entering the ring-" The announcer began, not even acknowledging Kazuma's existence "-She is a multi-time world champion, has traveled the world from our beloved nation to Europe, and at one time was the shining gem of the now defunct wrestling company Gigamax. Making her AFW debut iiiiiit's Justiiiice Asuka!!!"

Kazuma was skeptical upon hearing the announcer shouting out his opponent's name followed by her music. Justice Asuka had retired after the match that ended Gigamax and disappeared from the public eye not long after. There was one rumor that she had gotten married and become a landlady but Kazuma didn't really buy into rumors that didn't have any evidence to back them up. Don't get him wrong, Kazuma was a big fan of Justice Asuka and if he ever did get the chance he'd certainly love to have a match with her but Kazuma doubted AFW could bring her out of retirement so easily right? But that skepticism quickly turned to shock as Asuka stepped out and the crowd went absolutely crazy. It made the cheers he received when he stepped out look like a sarcastic slow clap.  

Kazuma watched and examined Asuka as she approached the ring, waving and smiling at some of the fans. She was wearing her signature black and hot pink wrestling outfit and had her hair tied in a ponytail with a red ribbon. Plus, for someone who didn't appear to have been in action for some time she certainly still had quite the figure.

After finally entering the ring and giving the crowd one last wave, Asuka approached Kazuma who had been waiting in the middle of the ring. “Hey there! I’m Justice. I hope we can have a nice match.” It was a kind greeting, and one showed that she was still quite the sportswoman so naturally Kazuma, being the sportsman and fan that he was, would give a greeting of his own.

"L-LIKEWISE! My name is K-K-Ka-Kazuma! I'm 21 yrs old, and single! I like to play games, read manga, and hope to one day have a dog! Please take care of me!" Kazuma yelled and suddenly gave a deep bow to Asuka!

"Way to go idiot! You're like five seconds away from fighting her and after a small "hello", you introduce yourself like you're meeting her at a blind date mixer?" Kazuma mentally berated himself as he held the bow, too afraid to look back up as he was certain he was blushing like an idiot. Could you really blame him though? A former world champion and A-class beauty like Justice had chosen him out of probably dozens of other, quite possibly more qualified, people that answered the flyer to be her debut opponent so of course he was going to have a major fanboy moment.

Alright, calm down Kazuma. Maybe she thought it was cute and not desperate. Kazuma desperately prayed that was the case.

Justice didn’t feel like that person the announcer and the crowd were cheering for. Everything they said was true indeed, but a lot of time had passed since she was forced out of the ring and suffered ostracism for several years. It was inevitable to assume that the person coming back was different from that fighter who retired years ago, but of course marketing was flashier if they talked about her past persona.

Those grim thoughts weren’t the best just before a match, but luckily her new rival did his best to ease this tension on Justice’s mood. With some strange and over the top introduction the man got Asuka’s face to go from friendly to astonished and just seconds later to burst in a soft laughter. She gave him a gesture with her hand not to take her laughing in a bad way before she could speak.

“Nice to meet you Kazuma-kun! No need for bows! We are just going to engage in combat so a friendly handshake is the best way of showing respect.”, Justice said while offering the man a handshake. Honestly, this reaction coming from the young Kazuma gave the former champion a boost in morale and self confidence. After all what had happened Asuka thought she had lost most of her appeal and attractiveness, but her rival looked dazed at her presence, and not only because of her past as a true champion.

“So, I know you are pretty new to the AFW, and I was retired for some years, so you don’t have to worry about this being so rough. Let’s just feel good with the match and have some fun wrestling! May the best win!” The crowd was actually excited by Justice’s reappearance but the veteran didn’t want to take all the spotlight to herself so she decided she would give her rival the chance to show her budding talent in this match, going at it in a friendly way. After all, she didn’t even know how her now older and rusty body would react at the exertion of wrestling, so she had to take things slow from the beginning. Also, it was actually the first time she was going to face a male rival, so caution was in order. Her rival was way younger than her and looked quite energetic, so she would have to assess his skills very well before she could try and go for the win.”Well, you ready for this Kazuma-kun?”

When one had luck like Kazuma it was very easy to get quickly desensitized to moments of good fortune, to the point that to the person in question there were few times when that luck really came in clutch....and to Kazuma this was one of those times. When he first heard Justice's laugh he thought to himself; "This is it. My second match in AFW and my career is about to end all because I made an idiot of myself in front of Justice Asuka."

But then he slowly looked up at her and saw how she was didn't seem to be laughing at him, in fact it actually looked like that little "display" seemed to have put her in a good mood. With a huge sigh of relief Kazuma stood straight again and looked at the hand she had extended to him for a handshake. He slowly raised his hand and took Justice's hand in his, noticing just how much larger his hand was compared to hers and how well cared for her fingers were. It actually made him blush a little that he was holding the hand of such a beautiful woman like this. After they broke the handshake Kazuma took a step back as the crowd started chanting Justice's name.

He was starting to feel really nervous, seeing how much the crowd was favoring his opponent and the match hadn't even officially started yet! But then Asuka's small speech put it into perspective a bit, this wasn't a 1 on ridiculously huge number match, it was 1 on 1; Kazuma vs Justice, he could do this!

"I'm ready Justice-san, but don't think that just because you've been out of action for a while that I'm gonna go easy on you." Kazuma didn't have any plans of losing today. With that little exchange over they both went to the corners to wait for the match, as they did though Kazuma thought he could have sworn he noticed a small extra sway in Asuka's hips, but even if there was, it was probably meant more for the male audience members. Once Kazuma was in his corner and Justice was in hers the bell rang, signifying the match had officially begun.

Kazuma and Justice both circled the center of the ring waiting to see what the other would do. Kazuma had 2 distinct advantages; the first being that the lack of muscle tone on Justice meant that she had only just recently started to work out again, most likely in preparation for this match, meaning Kazuma was more ring fit than she was at the moment, the second was that he had seen all of Justice's matches and he knew for a fact that this was her first match against a male opponent meaning she didn't know quite what moves she could get away with here compared to the traditional same sex matches but Kazuma did, as an advocate of true gender equality he had been in several intergender matches so he knew what to watch out for.

But even with all of that knowledge it didn't mean that Kazuma should throw caution by the wayside, he needed to test the waters first. So he stepped forward with his arms raised, inviting Justice to lock up for a test of strength. If she rejected then he'd be leaving himself open for Justice's first attack, but if she accepted then he'd be able to see just what kind of match he'd be in for.

Asuka was actually entertained with how her rival had reacted to her presence. The veteran would have thought that a good looking guy like him would be more skilled when dealing with the presence of pretty women, but Kazuma was one to get easy flustered. Furthermore, no matter how her legend could have been in the past, Justice Asuka was now in the veteran tier of a league like the AFW, and she was sure that there were dozens of younger women that got a better figure than her. Nevertheless it boosted her morale seeing a younger man being that dazed by her looks.

As they were exchanging greetings the crowd started cheering and chanting her name. Obviously her name still meant something to all those fans who were sad to see her dissapear from the scenes. Justice was happy to be back and to feel the embrace of those who never forgot about her, but she also found some time to reassure her rival. “Heh, I guess old tales die hard...”, she said with a nod to Kazuma while signaling with her head to the public. “Don’t lose your focus because of this. Do your best and they will root for you at the end of the match.” The veteran didn’t want her rival to feel down because of the respectable siding with her.

But Kazuma had some fighter’s spirit and he showed it when he stated his intention of not holding back, not even against Justice Asuka. “I wouldn’t want it either other way”, she said as both returned to their corner and the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the match.

Justice started circling around her rival, quietly assessing Kazuma’s character as she thought of a best course of strategy for that match. It hadn’t been much since she had started working out again so it was likely that the man had more endurance that her. The veteran needed to make sure to save some of her strength in case the match proved to be longer than expected.

Kazuma decided to lift his arms, inviting Justice to start the match with a test of strength. That was quite a decision to make since not accepting it and going for an easy strike could be seen as some kind of low blow, and that wasn’t who Justice Asuka was. She was sure a test of raw strength against Kazuma could be against her favor, but it could prove a useful move to assess her rival some more, so she lifted her arms and locked her hands with Kazuma, planting her feet on the mats and trying to push to her best as the crowd roared at the beginning of the match.

Kazuma watched closely as Justice approached and finally locked hands with him, apparently accepting the test of strength. While strength wasn't Kazuma's forte he was still able to match up with Justice's current strength for the moment. He tried to take the lead by moving around but Justice's stance was too solid, she wouldn't be moved or pushed back, even worse he began to notice that he was slowly being pushed back towards the ropes.

"Looks like you still got a bit of strength but let's see if you can still fly like you used too." Kazuma suddenly fell backwards, pulling Justice with him and raising both of his feet up to her stomach, and threw Asuka over him with a Tomoe Nage. It was one of his favorite moves to use due to how simple it was too execute and how surprised his opponents would normally be to be thrown so suddenly.

Kazuma watched as Justice was thrown into the ropes and landed on her stomach. The moves elicited a few boos from the crowd but at this point he didn't care. With a quick roll onto his stomach, Kazuma made a quick dive forward and grabbed one of Asuka's legs and raised it to try and lock in a standing Ankle lock.

Justice felt confindent as the test of strength went on since it looked like she had the upper hand on that matter. The veteran was worried about her current physical status and the fact she had never fought a man. She was going in uncharted territory but how things were her confidence was being reassured as she noticed how she could be stronger than the eager Kazuma.

But the man had a couple tricks on his sleeve, and was so willing to show how resourceful he could be when things didn’t look pretty for him. Kazuma managed to get Justice in a basic but quite effective tomoe nage. The veteran’s eyes widened in surprise as she was suddenly flying, rebounding on the ropes and then falling on the mat.

It wasn’t a heavily damaging move keeping in mind that the match had only just begun, but it came to show how Kazuma was able to turn a bad situation into a good one. The debutant made a quick follow up and got a grip on one of Justice’s ankles for a hold.

The veteran groaned in pain, but she was going to show that she also was resourceful. After all, she was Justice Asuka. Sanae decided not to let her rival keep going damaging her ankle so she used all her body, her arms and her free leg, to make a sudden jerk of all her body at the same time, aiming to unbalance Kazuma enough to make his hold weaker so she could escape.

Kazuma managed to hold the lock for a few moments before Justice started to jerk and move her body in order to free herself from the hold and throw him off balance. Kazuma wasn't the best when it came to submissions, as such with one major jerk Justice was able to pull her leg free and break out of the hold. The sudden action made Kazuma fall on his back again, only this time it wasn't on his terms.

"For someone that hasn't seen action she sure knows how to move in a pinch." Thought Kazuma as he looked up at the lights for a second. The match had only just started so it wasn't that he was tired but something else really. He thought back to a few moments ago, during the ankle lock, it was a bit embarrassing but the way Justice moved her body as she struggled and the way she sounded was kind of hot. "No! Keep it together man! You're in the middle of a match, now's not the time to get let your hormones go wild."

Kazuma sat up and took a knee only to see that there was now a pair of boots in front of him. Slowly he raised his head, tracing the figure of the boot's wearer, finally arriving at the person's face. It was Justice and she was now standing over him. Apparently that momentary self distraction had given her enough time to get back up and now he had inadvertently placed him self at a slightly disadvantageous position.

"Well this certainly looks like trouble."

Even if he was a rookie with not much experience behind him Sanae could notice how Kazuma was a young and energetic man with a wish to show his best against someone as renowned as her. The man had a lot to win from this match, getting some reputation for himself if he only could manage to perform in a very average way against the veteran.

But it looked like Kazuma wasn’t holding his punches. He really wanted to make his best in this match and it showed in the force with wich he locked the submission hold. Even so, Justice was a veteran of dozens of combats and even with all her forced retirement she could see that maybe submission wasn’t the main area of expertise of the man. Kazuma got some damage out of Justice’s ankle but in the end she could break free in a way that made her rival fall.

Before the man could get up Asuka saw her window to act and retaliate for the submission hold on her own way. She stood before her rival and when he was getting on his knees Justice got a grip on her to help him up and then hit him with a DDT, aiming to soften his will as she would start leading the way to a victory.