Reiko Ishida vs Lilliana Reynolds: The Hard Road

Match Type: Standard
Victory Conditions: Pinfall or submission.

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AFW never really called on Reiko, not really in any capacity she gave two white about. She wasn't into the whole wrestling thing to actually treat it like a job, she was here because her Valkyrie sisters use this company as their own personal stomping ground. She hadn't really come into her own yet, getting involved mostly indirectly with gang business while the others had their fun. Stone was entering championship tournaments, Devine was apparently having steamy exhibition matches with exotic women, and Mako was… just being her normal badass self. So when management told Reiko she had a match, she had decided to actually show up for a change to just some heads to make a statement.

Reiko Ishida:

Theme:

Despite it being a Friction event down in Tokyo, it seemed as though the reputation of the Valkyries proceeded her. A chorus of boos and jeers hit the moment she stepped out the curtains onto the stage to the heavy music of Electric Eel Shock. Rather than let it get to her, she threw up the middle finger to the onlookers, dragging it through the air to make sure every corner of the stadium got a good look at it. Held in her other hand, rested up against her shoulder was an old worn aluminum baseball bat. At one point a pristine cobalt blue, it had seen enough weathering to strip itself down to a dull metallic gray. Knicks and dents worked all up and down the length of the weapon showed definite signs of use, though it was uncertain if it was on people or objects. Neon pinks, greens, and a cloudy white paint were splashed wildly along the bat, the sorts that would glow with a fantastic display under a blacklight. On one side, “Lil Sister” was written in a crisp cursive font along the bat, on the other the kanji characters “悪い女の子”.

With a stride of unearned confidence she made her way down the ramp in a lazy zig-zag,. Crashing out her entrance just to annoy the onlookers who had paid money to be here tonight. Suckers. Her eyes settled in passing on someone with a sign for someone named "Belinda" on it. What a stupid old lady name. Without warning she reached out to snatch it from the unsuspecting can, filling it in half before scattering it at her feet. She gave the angry fan a wink and proceeded to the ring. Upon sliding under the ropes the referee was kind enough to inform her this wasn't a hardcore match and she couldn't keep the bat.

"No shit." The upstart snorted loudly, scoffing when the official offered to take the weapon from her. She pulled back a fist, making them flinch as she threatened to lunch them. With a small tackle she brushed by, giving them a shove with her shoulder in passing. Reaching through the ropes she gave the bat a light toss, leaving it by the metal steps on the far side of the ring. Once that was done she wheeled back around a d leaned against the turnbuckles, waiting to see the woman she was about to victimize.

“Thank you for coming. Have a seat.” Masako gave a sip to a cup of tea. “Alright, won’t run around the bush: you got booked for your debut match.”

“That’s good, right?” Lilliana said while she had a seat and served some tea the manager offered her. “I mean, it has been some time since I signed the contract, I was wondering if they even wanted me to debut...”

“It looks like they wanted something special for you, something that suited the character you posed for the AFW. And now they have found it. Former military against a goon from a biker gang. The girl is younger, smaller and lighter than you so you will have the edge on that matter. She is also a rookie of sorts, doesn’t have much experience and you should use that in your advantage. Most likely people would underestimate you for being a rookie dismissing the fact that you have experience in actual, and I mean real, combat situations.”

“So, should I expect some kind of rowdy gangster?”

“Her biker gang’s reputation precedes her, so expect anything. Low blows, dirty tactics… Don’t get your guard down to this woman or you will regret it.” The manager looked pretty serious, but that was her thing, after all. “Just trust your combat instincts for this one. You will have more time to refine your wrestling skills after your debut. Match is next Saturday night. Good luck.”

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Completely clad to fight and finishing her warm up exercises while in the lockers room, Lilliana was feeling composed and calm. After all, and no matter how pressuring this debut of hers could feel in her mind, she had seen much worse while on the army. Just when she was about to walk backstage she noticed the buzzing of her phone coming from her locker. “Really?” The American felt tempted to let it be and go, but she wouldn’t have been able to take that out of her mind so she opened the lock and browsed all over her stuff to find the cell phone, and she would be glad she did because what she found was an encouraging text from her girlfriend.

“Wait until I write an article about tonight’s hot debut! Love you honey! XOXO”

Just the fuel she needed to get her inner fire raging. Lilliana collected her thoughts and her stuff and walked backstage. From there she was able to see the final moments of her rival’s entrance. She really looked like a gang member, and the fact she brought an aluminium bat to a wrestling match made her mind at unease. She would have to be really careful around this woman, as her manager had advised.

Entrance theme:

Captain Reynolds:

Finally, her entrance theme started and the announcer asked for a round of cheers for the debutant tonight, “A veteran, no less!” Lilliana breathed and walked on stage while every spotlight and pair of eyes were looking at her, waiting to see what this debutant is about.

The former military was maybe too solemn for the entrance show. She just walked down the ramp in a firm pace while having some nods at several people cheering for her. Then she walked between the ropes and finished with a military salute and a signal to the crowd. After that, Lilliana went to her corner and had a first look on her rival Those emerald eyes catched her attention as she thought that she didn’t look like a thug when in close distance. She remembered her manager’s words as the referee called both wrestlers to the center of the ring. “Well, here goes nothing.”

Reiko's eyes lazily drifted over towards the stage as her opponents music hit the speakers, her ears giving a small twitch. Not terrible. It had the clear sound of mid to late eighties guitar with those riffs. On the lighter side, not really here thing. It lacked any real punch... which made total sense when she saw her white beard opponent come waltzing through that curtain. Boring gear with no real flair, a one in a million pretty face by AFW standards and some nice long hair that the biker was looking forward to making use of to throw the other woman around. Lillian even had it all tied up in an easy to grab ponytail... how thoughtful of her. With a small push she moved out of the corner, trudging to the center of the canvas to stand her ground in a silent statement of ownership over the ring as she stared the brunette down with a cold indifference.

In an uncharacteristic show of patience, she remained quiet and steady as the referee motioned for both of them to approach the middle of the ring. The second Lillinia close in however, Reiko pushed past the official to shove her body up against the Captain's, getting into the woman's face immediately. "Bet you think you're hot shit, huh soldier girl? When I'm done with you tonight they're goin' to need to cart you out of here in a stretcher and award you the purple heart."

While Reiko was petite by most AFW standards, the size differences between the two of them wasn't all that vast. Compared to someone like Stone who Reiko rolled with often, this other girl was tiny. Still, despite her harsh tone and serious threat, something about her threats almost came across like a yappy Chihuahua hounding a German Shepherd. Even members of the audience could be heard snickering softly. The referee would roughly impose herself between the two, trying her best to separate them after whatever brief exchange they had but the Valkyrie made it difficult until she saw the official wasn't looking directly at her anymore. At that point she relented and stepped back, spitting at Lililliana's eyes in her last act of defiance. "Gonna rip you open tin soldier!"

Reiko didn’t take much time to show her colors with an attitude that completely matched the kind of mental picture Lilliana could have about her based on the intel her manager gave about the biker: a punk with something to prove, showing complete defiance in every aspect from the way she moved to how she displayed herself, her very presence trying to own every space she walked in. Lilliana haven’t dealt with that kind of people before, but she knew that all of that wasn’t but a way of intimidating others, and that method was only as effective as she would fall for it. Not paying Reiko attention would be the best course of action, her own thug fiction would fall apart by itself.

Of course it wouldn’t be easy since the biker searched for conflict and hostile confrontation since the very first moment, making some scornful comments at Lilliana. The former military somehow was feeling sad that her first match would be against such a despicable opponent. Her girlfriend told her of all the awesome wrestlers in the AFW and how it was easy to find a healthy competition while getting to know some cool athletes, and she had to step up against some kind of punk with an attitude.
Lilliana didn’t get to reply to Reiko’s comment because the referee managed to get in between them once more. The former military decided to show more restraint than her rival and back up, letting the ref go over the rules again even if Reiko was trying her best to be a bother. The American nodded to the ref as a sign of understanding while Reiko made a scene. When it looked like the match was going to start Reiko used an instant the referee was looking somewhere else to spit directly at Lilliana’s eyes!

“Agh, you little… fuck!” Lilliana stepped back while going to clean her face with her hands. The crowd instantly recognized the foul play coming from Reiko and started booing the biker. At least Lilliana already got some support, or so she thought. It took some seconds to get the spit out of her face and for her vision to become clear again, but then the bell rang and the match started. Willing to make Reiko pay for her disrespect, the American walked slowly to her as if she wanted to lock up, but when at reach she would charge with an elbow to Reiko’s stomach.

Lilliana had already pissed Reiko off. It wasn't enough that she was another runway model looking woman in the league but she was clanging some military gimmick for street cred like some shill. Another comparison to be drawn to Stone, who rarely if ever mentioned her own service. Everything about this woman screamed phoney. So when her obvious attempts at trash talk were simply ignored with a cold shoulder, it lit a fire in her to dial the aggression up to crack this woman's stoic act.

A well aimed wad of spit had done the trick, getting a hearty laugh from Reiko as her opponent broke her silence and recoiled from the altercation. The official turned to glare her way as boos rained down from the crowd. With a devilish smile she backed off, arms raised in mock surrender as she soaked it all in notoriety was its own form of currency where she was from so being universally hated was a badge of pride in her mind. She watched with pride as the other woman struggled to clean her eyes. She would have rushed her before the bell for another cheap shot, but the referee had wisely stood between them until Lilliana seemed ready. Pretty unfair to give soldier girl special treatment.

"I can't wait to choke you out in front of all these people. Show them what you goodie-goodie bitches get when you step into the ring with a real woman." When the Captain started towards her, Reiko threw another curve ball by not rushing in. Lilliana had surmised rather rightly she was a firecracker with something to prove so this odd bit of caution or cowardice came across as questionable. The young punk was taking small bouncing steps back, keeping distance between them until her opponent fully closed in. She expected a grapple, falling for the ruse, but what she prepared wound up working out regardless. When the brunette lunged in to strike her with a short ranger elbow, Reiko had already thrown her foot up to boot the other woman in the guts, using her long legs to keep the formidable opponent at bay.

Something about the kind of thugs Reiko represented at that moment was that they were so quick to anger, their fuse so short that the slightest of things could make them spring like a trap and start rampaging or provoking. Of course the biker wasn’t going to be any different, resorting to violence and dirty tactics as soon as she found a window to strike. Lilliana wasn’t stupid and knew that her more composed demeanor infuriated the biker. After all, a thug wanted her victims to react in certain way, so acting otherwise was the best course of action in order to enrage them. It wasn’t a rash move from the American, she just wanted her rival to lose her temper, to act in blind rage without thinking.

But another part of the former military wanted to make Reiko pay and eat her words, to get some revenge from the spitting and make the punk feel a portion of the fear she surely thought was able to instill in her victims. But rushing in would have never been a smart choice for her, so Lilliana settled for some deceit in form of a slow advance and raising her arms as if she was going for a lockup and then suddenly throwing an elbow, but what the biker had in store managed to work even if she wasn’t expecting the sudden shift in pace. Even with the size difference Reiko’s kick would always have more reach than an elbow strike, and that is how Reiko managed to get the first hit on Lilliana.

The kick to her gut wasn’t anything special, and being fresh it didn’t get much damage done on Lilliana’s stomach. Instead, Captain managed to repress her groan of pain, remaining silent while looking at Reiko directly, eye meeting eye. She was sure that the biker thought herself so smart because of anticipating her attack, but not showing any sign of pain, not getting staggered at all by a kick on her midsize should send a message to the thug. And if it didn’t, the mirrored kick to the stomach with which Lilliana wanted to pay her back would.

While not an especially gifted fighter, Reiko was more than capable of scrapping. She had been in more fights than she could count throughout her life, and while she definitely didn't win them all she was sure the other person came away from the scuffle with scars. It was just the way she operated most days, do as much damage as possible regardless of what happened to herself. If that was what it took to prove herself as a Valkyrie, she would gladly throw her body at any problem that needed solving.

So when she kicked Lilliana square in the stomach and it hardly phased the other woman it was cause for alarm. It was a startling realization that by all rights should have had her frightened but instead of just seemed to make her mad. Eyes narrowing, jaw clenched as she met the brunette's own intense stare with one of defiance in face of the obvious odds before her. It was that stubbornness that found her standing her ground when the kick was returned, seemingly looking to perform a similar rest of strength and shrug the blow off as well just to rub it in the soldier girl's face.

The problem was, Lilliana's kick blew the air right out her on impact. Wide eyes with surprise she let out a sputtered breath with shaking knees. She lurched forward with an unsteady stagger, having to put her hands on her thighs to keep from falling forward. Lesson learned… possibly. It seemed the Captain had some force behind her blows… Reiko would have to improvise a bit more than expected if she hoped to bring her down.

As far as Lilliana knew, Reiko was a brawler. Biker gangs are usually involved in some shady street fighting, basing their reputation in how infamous they could get. It was a way of protecting themselves and ascertain dominance over the street and the road. Become the biggest fish in the tank or be eaten. In order to get there, a biker must have certain set of skills and certain traits as well. They also had to maintain certain appearances: being tough, ruthless and even a little bit of rash, but above all of those, never show fear nor pain.

Reiko tried her best, the Captain could notice the effort coming from the rowdy biker, but in the end she had to surrender to the obvious. Lilliana's kick had been stronger than Reiko's, and it also looked lime both women had way different pain tolerance. The former soldier knew that after kicking her Reiko would try looking unfazed as she did, but after the impact the biker only managed to have a straight face for some brief instants. Reiko coughed as air left her lungs and lurched forwards, supporting herself against her knees.

That gave Lilliana just the window she needed to act. Getting on that position just in front of her rival was a gift, a temptation so big it was difficult to dismiss, so the Captain would take her chances. Now that the biker was bent over Cap towered next to her to launch a powerful elbow to the back of her shoulders, aiming to take her down on her stomach.

"Hng!" Bend forward by the solid kick, a normal girl may have felt regret. Standing forward, head held high, and eating a kick on purpose was certainly something that could have been avoided after all. Instead, the hotheaded girl twisted what had happened so all roads lead back to Lilliana having done something wrong. It was the other woman's fault she had chosen to take the blow, goaded into taking it head on. It made her hate her that much more. That squeaky clean image of a woman taking advantage of her. With a wince she looked up towards the brunette with a wilting look that spoke volumes of the levels of vitriol rising in her blood, her eyes only softening when she realized another attack was coming her way.

The elbow clobbered her across the shoulders, buckling her legs and sending Reiko crashing face down into the canvas with a gratifying thud that shook the ring. The crowd cheered, pleased with seeing the heel get her just deserts for the early underhanded tactics. To be fair, they would have likely cheered regardless just to see a member of the Valkyries put to task by someone, even if this want the Tension arena in Kyoto. Reiko for her part lay on the mat with a groan, red faced with embarrassment. Her fingers briefly dug into the mat, curling up into tight fists. She wanted to start throwing hands and make this woman pay, but it was pretty clear things had gotten off on the wrong foot.

Throwing her want for immediate revenge aside, the young punk threw her weigh to one side and promptly tried to roll herself away, tumbling towards the ropes to make a hasty retreat from further assault. If not stopped she would slip under the ropes and drop herself down off the apron to the outside of the ring where she could hopefully catch a break.

Lilliana never needed to take care of a gang member or a thug in her life, her more secluded way of life allowed her to remain out of the spotlight for bullies, but she knew about them and how to deal them. When she showed no pain after Reiko’s kick she knew that now the biker was forced to respond in the same way when it was the Captain’s turn to strike.

Only one setback in Reiko’s plan: Lilliana’s kick actually was stronger than hers. And since Lilliana decided to press on with an elbow to her back the biker went to the mat face first. This would anger the thug, Lilliana was counting on that. With these kind of people it always was the same: no matter what one could do, they would twist reality so everything adapts to their distorted way of seeing things. They were never guilty of anything, the world was. All those repressed feelings fuel their anger, so bursts of rage were to be expected.

Lilliana was ready for some furious retaliation coming from Reiko. After all, and based on the strength of her first kick, the woman wasn’t too much in terms of strength. But that revenge didn’t arrive. Instead, the biker rolled over before Lilliana had any time to react and slipped below the ropes where she could recover her composure. Out of every possible reaction that was the one Lilliana was expecting the least, the former soldier not sure about how to approach the situation while some of the cheers for her that were coming from the stands slowly became laughs. The crowd could be a cruel judge, and now it was making Reiko pay for her arrogant attitude. That would definitely anger the biker further, Lilliana thought while shrugging and waiting her rival to go back in the ring.