Nobody Said It Was Gonna Be Easy - Alice vs Zoey Jae Oh

Match Type: Race to the Ring
Winning Condition: Pin inside the Ring
Wrestlers start in the carpark and must work their way back to the ring in order to have a chance at a pin and a victory condition. Anything goes.
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It was probably too late but Alice couldn't shake the feeling she had been had. A "Race" sounded like it might have been some gimmick to tire the wrestlers our before entering the ring. She wasn't sure how she'd do in a race but she didn't believe the winner would be afforded any major advantage. Additionally there was the strategy of pacing yourself rather than going all out or maybe knowledge of the arena complex might lead to some shortcut. Regardless, there was the thought that this type of match had some strategy. Sure it detracted from the grander display in the ring but at least it wasn't mindless. Oh how wrong she was...

Leaning her weight to one side joined with her a hand on the weighted hip, Alice was clearly trying to appear openly defiant about the rules of her first match. Yet with no immediate witnesses aside from the parked cars, it was obvious that her protest would fall among deaf ears while alone in the arena's parking garage. No, it'd be her opponent for the night, Zoey whatever, who'd get an earful about the barbarism of starting the match here. Without the ceremony of the entrances, the hype of a watching crowd, the rumble of the ring underneath, this wasn't a wrestling match but a street fight. I mean come on, what is the point of her getting all dressed up?

Alice:

High-end fabrics went into her clothing for her to look impressive. Durable material that won't mind the stress of a normal wrestling match but who knows with something like this. A lot of time was spent on preparing her first outfit was the point and now it seems like that was wasted time. Sighing loudly to mainly herself at this point, she shook her head. There were a lot of words she had in mind but none quite captured her attitude than, "I'm going to quit if I have to wait another minute.... God! This is the worst!".

Was her opponent late? She felt late or maybe standing here felt like it was too long. She was uncomfortable here, like the feeling of danger akin to getting mugged in a dark alley. She had zero experience for fighting outside of all those practices and classes but she never actually got a straight up match. So even if this was going to be a normal match, she would have still been nervous out of her mind. Now, she had to add the element of fighting outside the ring? This was too much. If it wasn't for the pressure she was dealing with about making a solid first impression with a win, than she might have just actually been serious about quitting. Hopefully her opponent would come soon...

Zoey had to win this match no matter what.

She could give a shit about what people thought about her up to now. They only seemed interested when she was getting her shit wrecked anyway. Her time under the spotlight would come sooner or later, and when it did they would all change their tune.

She could even give a shit what management thought if she was being honest. It was way beyond obvious that they seemed to have something out for her. Why she couldn't’ say for sure. Maybe they just took her as an easy target, maybe they didn’t like how she handled business or had something against Koreans. They weren’t going to play fair and offer her a matchup on even footing, so she’d just have to adapt and work around it. It wasn’t like she was used to playing ball anyway.

Nah, fuck ‘em. The appeal of the masses, a billion-dollar corporation, and the unseen hands of Japan’s most powerful businessmen were the last things on her mind. What she needed to worry about was Moon Sin-Jae.

The two of them couldn’t have met more than - what, a few months ago? It had to be that long, but from the way she’d been breaking Zoey in it hit her like two of the most insane years of her entire life. Sin was a TKD prodigy; so talented beyond belief it was almost hard to think they were nearly the same age. Despite the rough start, she was Zoey’s kind of teacher, putting theory into practice and preferring to teach on their feet. It was fast, exhilarating, and never easy, but for the first time in a long while it all actually felt worth it. She should have felt elated to find someone so willing to share their expertise, but that was the problem. Sin was willing to share everything she knew. About fighting. About suffering. About pain. A “drug” was an understatement for what this woman got off the bruises she inflicted, the bones she broke and cries she drank. She was itching to tear Zoey apart on a good day. She didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if she disappointed.

So, was she ready to go tonight?

Same Shit Different Day:

Zoey would let the cameras decide. She kicked open the metal door at the other end of the parking garage and almost immediately caught the oversized lens staring straight at her from over some half-assed crew member’s shoulder. Just as quick, she threw a middle finger their way, aimed at both the man holding it, the people watching, and the higher-ups that threw her into this sham. She finally had some new skills to show off and the one goddamn thing she wanted they weren’t willing to give her: the stage. She wasn’t even fighting in the ring now. She was fighting for the right to fight in the ring. She’d never even heard of this kind of fucking match before.

The Korean-American didn’t even attempt to hide her frustration as she stomped her way over through the line of parked cars until she finally glanced her opponent from afar. She came to a stop in front of the blonde with one hand at her hip and a pair of furrowed brows. If her attitude was bad, it only got worse when she could see properly who she was fighting. “Regal” was probably playing it safe. Golden hair and deep blue eyes. A hairdo that probably cost more than whatever she was getting this month. She was pretty, yeah, but in that incredibly pretentious and over-the-top sort of way. It only confirmed in her mind that someone upstairs wasn’t taking her seriously. Even so, it wasn’t like this had to be anything personal.

“You look fucking stupid.”

Nevermind.

Alice was only partially joking about actually quitting. She still felt the pressure to actually follow through and that, alone, was quite an unbearable thought.

Now in walk her opponent who she had no prior encounter with. Sporty, slim, and honestly quite mediocre by all appearances. In fact, she might have even questioned what her opponent's overall aesthetic was? In such a plain design, her opponent seemed like the type that would be the one fans never quite seem to remember outside "oh yea, her..." as they try to recall matches of more memorable wrestlers. Here's hoping Alice's start would be like that.

Although her opponent looked forgettable, it wasn't appearing to be a bad start. Maybe she could just usher her opponent towards the ring for the real match to begin. There was something she could work with here, even better is if her opponent willing camewith. Yea, maybe that pissed off look the other had was the same outrage that Alice had. Things were looking up until Zoey opened her mouth.

"Excuse me?" Alice looked disgusted as she was insulted. "How dare you even open up with that. I worked hard picking out a wardrobe for my matches and didn't want to half ass in some workout clothes like this is some fun run you do on a weekend. This is business and you have to dress to impress." She lectured hard, leaning forward to add the extra length in extending her wagging finger.

"Maybe if you took a little more time to be professional you wouldn't get your ass kicked around this league." Alice spat blindly since she hadn't heard of Zoey, it was likely she was some bottom-feeder in the league. It was supposed to be friendly advice but with everything on her shoulders, Alice made it seem quite vindictive.

Way to shoot from the hip there, Tex. Them fast flippin’ lips will take another life yet.

In the back of her head, the small part of it that had taken enough beatings to develop the smallest semblance of common sense when it came to the etiquette before these matches, she knew she was asking for trouble. And good. That was how she preferred it. Besides, what was Zoey supposed to do? Not call out a dumb bimbo when she saw one? She may have found a mentor, that didn’t mean she was gonna change who she was. She called it as she saw it.

And she saw a whole lot of nothing. First impressions were that this was someone who got lost on their way to a fashion show in another city, in another country, on another continent. Her whole wardrobe looked so immaculate it was hard to pick out one part of her that didn’t look groomed for success. For some reason, that just made the insult feel all the worse. This did not scream to Zoey as someone that knew what they were getting into or even what line of work they’d signed up for. It was the same thing with Brie. Someone was feeding her the easy bait, thinking they were going to have a rerun of hilarity at her expense when they pulled some slick shit.

That wasn’t happening tonight. She’d worked too hard at it for too long and taken way too much shit to suddenly pull the plug again. Tonight she was taking her career back. Tonight, she was setting Tokyo on fucking fire.

Alice didn’t have to be on board with that considering she was about to have her ass kicked halfway to Tennessee. Even if she was swinging blind, Alice managed to hit the nail on the head. And the consequence was more ire from the Korean-American. Her eyes locked to Ms. Richie’s, stepping right up to her face.

“You look like an oversized barbie. If I saw you on the store shelf, I’d think you were on clearance. You better find whatever fucking schoolgirl you hawked those off of because I’m gonna send ‘em back in rags.” The referee came out of nowhere and quickly got between, pushing Zoey back with a hand to her chest. She backed off but her eyes didn’t leave Alice. She just took a couple of feet between them and immediately went into her stretches, reaching down to one leg, then the other. There was some new muscle there under her calves. The touch alone was a source of confidence. “I’m gonna knock your candy ass all over this place. Like a professional.”