The Crimson Legacy vs. Lock and Key - Smiling Faces

Match Type: Standard Tag
Victory Conditions: Pinfall, Submission, or Knockout

Luigi Yaguchi stood in the gorilla position, taking one last look at his referee outfit in the mirror before he headed out to the ring. Everything was in proper order. The pants were ironed, the shoes were shined, his hair was combed to perfection. He was, in every way, the model of an AFW official, except in one, small regard: He was a man.

Luigi was a man who’d gotten used to disappointment over the past few years. It was all a stepping stone. All about getting over your failures and moving onto the next challenge. That was the mantra he kept telling himself, at least.

It could be easy to forget that, at times. The life of a referee could be a difficult one, a sad fact he’d learned after many a rough night. Wrestlers tended to treat him poorly in and out of the ring - often using him for a human shield or a distraction when a match wasn’t going their way, or ‘accidently’ hitting him with one of their moves and laying him out. They were trained to take that kind of damage, but he was just a normal, squishy man, and he’d spent far more time in hospital bed than he wanted to admit.

Then there was the bribes, the threats, the pranks, all the backstage shenanigans that he often found himself getting dragged into whether he wanted to or not...and he never wanted to, really.

But that was the job. It was the job his father had done, and his father before him, and his father before him, and he was going to do them all proud. This wasn’t just any  match, either, but one with the new tag team champions in action. All eyes would be on him...or, okay, not on him, but in his general direction, and they would definitely notice if he botched this.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. He was ready.

”Yo, bro!”

Luigi jumped - literally jumped straight up - at the chirp of his sister, coming from behind him. He spun around and there she stood, looking up at her with those bright, playful eyes, practically sparkling. The look she always put on right before she said something he wouldn’t like. And, considering that she was wearing a referee outfit as well - a wrinkly one, but still - he could hazard a good guess on what exactly she wanted to talk about.

A few minutes later found Lock and Key making their way down the entrance ramp, their theme music blaring loud as they strode together. Lock made her way up the steps with soft steps while Key rolled in under the bottom rope, and the two of them met in the center of the ring...right in front of a smiling Zelda.

”Pleasure to meet you, ladies.” She looked between them, wide-eyed and beaming. ”Ready to have a good match?”

The audience was murmuring to themselves, having been suitably impressed by the grand entrance of Lock and Key. But it would not be long before this entrance went unanswered, as another set of entrance music blared, and Crimson Legacy made their own way into the arena.

The fans were ecstatic. This had been Kyo and Makie's first tag team appearance since winning the tag championship, and while this wasn't a title match in any way whatsoever, the two of them nonetheless strode into the arena with their belts slung over their shoulders. It was a clear and unambiguous statement: they were the tag team champions, and if Lock and Key wanted to fight them, then they would have to fight at their best.

Calmly and confidently, the two siblings strode down to the arena, before rolling under the ropes. Standing, they both passed their belts to the ref with an almost businesslike calm. As Kyo did some quick stretches in the corner, Makie strode forward to eye their two opponents a little. She had already gotten a good look at them in their previous encounter, and had an idea of what to expect from them physically...but even so, she was surprised at how much the same they looked.

"Wait, you're going to fight us wearing dresses?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she folded her arms. "You two DO realize this is a wrestling match, right?"

Lock and Key retreated to their corner as the tag champions made their entrance, coming down to the ring with their belts on full display. It made for quite the sight, gleaming and proud, and Lock could see where the crowd’s admiration came from. It wasn’t merely patriotism, wasn’t them simply routing for their hometown hero. No, these two carried the sort of respect and reverence that could only come from dozens upon dozens of matches in the AFW, a pedigree that was earned through deep experience. She had to admire that, even with her goals conflicting.

”I’ll start off.” Key cracked her neck and gave it a good rub, getting nice and loose - as best as she could in these situations. They were both feeling some tension - big debut, first time in the AFW. Even with the precautions they’d taken, complications could still arise.

Lock wasn’t too sure about letting her start things off - most of the time she was fine with letting her partner be a guinea pig, using her durability to gauge her opponent’s from a safe distance, but that was with opponents who weren’t on the top-tier. Against someone with Kyo’s experience…

She was cautious, but she laid those fears aside for the moment. If things went too sour, she could always intervene. ”All right, just keep your eyes open. And don’t forget to tag me in before too long. Keep them worked over, make them adapt.”

”Yeah, yeah.” Key shrugged and turned to the center of the ring as Makie approached, a sight that brought a smile to her face. After their introduction, she’d hoped to get first dibs on the smaller Akamatsu, get to know her a little better, and here they were.

That smile dropped when Makie spoke, going to a fiery frown. She didn’t reply - not with words, anyway. But when the bell rang, she took a hard step forward and came at her opponent with full force, reeling back and trying to take her down with a lariat from moment one. No pause, no warning, no subtlety, just an unabashed offense.

Kyo retreated into his corner: wordessly, Makie had decided that she would be going up first. As Makie went up and asked the question that had been in her head ever since those two had entered, though, she was miffed that she got no response. Instead, though, it became clear that Key...Key was the brunette, right?...wanted to start things off against her. She remembered the way Key had looked at her in their first encounter, and suppressed an involuntary shudder. Though the way she was looking at her now was with a smouldering fury that surprised even Makie...

And then the bell rang, and the brunette exploded into movement. Makie yelped as Key suddenly crossed the distance rapidly between them, moving faster than she had any right to wearing a dress like that. Makie narrowly managed to duck in time, arching back as Key's arm whistled over her head, and, somehow, narrowly managing to retain her balance as she did so.

Stumbling, Makie didn't count her lucky stars. Instead, she met offence with offence. Spinning to face Key, she ran at her, rotating her body to try to nail the tall brunette with a spinning kick!

Key charged forward, swung out hard, came at Makie with a decapitating strike - and missed. She shouldn’t have been surprised by that, Lock had spent an annoying amount of time warning her of this girl’s speed and agility, telling her she shouldn’t underestimate the half-pint, but that didn’t stop the moment from being irritating.

She slammed her foot down to stop the momentum and spun about on her heel, whipping around quick - just in time to take a kick straight to the face.  The blow hit dead on, cracking Key clean on the jaw and with a resonating clap, one that echoed through the rafter and had the crowd wincing. A good shot, accurate and precise and effective. There was nothing wrong with the attack itself, but...

Key stumbled with a single step, before she whipped her head back towards Makie and smiled, taking the damage in stride. ”Harder, champ.”

She retaliated straight away, planting one foot on the canvas and shooting the other out towards her opponent’s chest, coming at her with a stiff push kick.

Key was fast. This was the first thing going through Makie's head as she spun around to launch a kick at the other woman. She didn't hesitate, didn't waste time with any preamble, she just went right for the kill with a lariat that Makie had only barely managed to dodge. But dodge it she had, and as she spun, she saw Key spinning around in turn. Fast, but not fast enough.

Makie's boot slammed home into Key's jaw with a satisfying thud. Key's head snapped to the side, and the taller woman stumbled and--

--turned around to face her again, smiling. The sight was enough to cause Makie to freeze in her tracks. Makie had just kicked this woman in the head and...she was grinning?

Then Key exploded into movement again, launching a foot up. Gasping in alarm, Makie barely managed to bring her arms up-- barely-- to shield her vulnerable chest, an area of her body that she knew from painful experience was a large target. The blow still sent a shock of pain up her arms, and was enough to blast her off of her feet, sending her rolling backwards, spinning head over heels before landing on her knees, wincing as her arms were now sore from that kick...

Makie’s kick was anything but soft - Key’s ears were ringing, her skull was thoroughly rocked, and she was half-sure the little bitch loosened up a tooth or two. But it wasn’t anything new, nothing she hadn’t tanked through before. Blows like that, she could take and move through and keep going all day long. The sort of fight she was born for.

She looked on as her foe tumbled away, and she moved to close in after her, taking long deliberate steps, arms at her side, lurching along with that same, crooked smile. ”Down already? We just started!”

When Makie came to a stop on her knees, Key was already on her, reaching out to grab hold of the woman’s head, snagging her with a tight headlock while she was busy recovering. It wasn’t exactly a killer move, but she sought to make it as uncomfortable as possible, wrenching the hold and pressing in hard with her muscles as she pulled her opponent back towards the center of the ring.

Key did not relent: she just kept coming, striding after Makie like some tall, redheaded bogeywoman, the crooked smile on her face definitely not helping with that image. Huffing, Makie tried to get to her feet, but Key had already closed the distance between them and managed to snag her in a frontal headlock-- Makie gagged, her head suddenly squeezed between Key's firm arm and equally firm abs. Despite wearing a freaking dress into the ring, Key was deceptively strong.

Her breathing stifled as she was pulled to the centre of the ring, Makie fought back, balling her fists and sending punch after punch into Key's sides, hoping this twin assault would make Key release her. If it did, then Makie would quickly run to the ropes, aiming to rebound back at the taller woman with a drop kick to her face! She could tank a hit at close range, so Makie wanted to see how she dealt with a kick that had some actual momentum behind it...

”What’s wrong, puppy?” She wrenched her hard to the side. ”Not used to feeling a real woman?”

Key slammed her foot down, establishing her base and cranking up the pressure, piling it on as Makie struggled. The girl had some fight such a small fry - not a bad thing, of course. It was part of the reason she’d loved eying the girl when they first met. She was the small, spunky, energetic type, the kind that were so fun to take apart. She already knew the pattern. Stubborn at first, resilient, trying to take down the bigger, badder women, but sooner or later Key would catch her, grind her down to a nub, and then…

Punch. Key winced at the first one, tensed up, and then came the second. The brat had some surprising impact behind her blows, could deliver them with more force than she would’ve guessed. It wasn’t enough to cause true damage, but it was more than she was willing to deal with for the little return. Fuck that.

She released Makie, pushed her off, and gave chase after the woman when she headed towards the ropes, intent on running her down. Arm reeled back, she was fully prepared to lay her out with a clothesline.

Instead, she wound up taking a dropkick to the face. Her course derailed, she staggered back with her head facing the ceiling, teetering and tottering, close to falling over. She didn’t. Barely. She managed to stay on her feet. But she was wobbly, grasping her head, trying to reboot her brain for a precious moment.

Makie's face reddened as Key squeezed her head. It reddened further at Key's comment-- both from the way it demeaned and diminished her, and from the way that Key had clearly been lusting after her since their first encounter. The comment lended angry strength to her punches as she swung her fists again and again into Key's sides, each blow eliciting a grunt from the woman. God, how many punches could she take?

The answer actually turned out to be "two," as Key quickly released Makie. Breathing hard, Makie burst into a run towards the ropes. She heard Key running after her, but maintained her momentem, rebounding off the ropes and leaping forward, planting both boots into the tall redhead's face! The crowd collectively winced as Key stumbled back, wobbling in a daze...

...and did not fall. Despite taking a blow that surely must have rattled her brain inside her skull, Key remained standing. "The fuck?" Makie gasped as she sat up, not quite able to believe what she was seeing.

She didn't dwell on her amazement for too long. Seeing that Key still looked pretty dazed, Makie rolled forwards, grabbing for Key's shins, trying to flip her over onto her back and cradle her for a surprise rollup pin!