Showdown VI - Dire Pack vs. Valkyries: Faction Warfare - Yuki Kitashima vs. Stone

Match Type: Knockout
Victory Conditions: Victory obtained by knocking out the opponent.

Stone opened the door to her room and broke into a coughing fit right away, hit with a wave of cleaning solutions in the air, messing with her allergies. She sniffed, snorted, and dealt with it as best she could - today was not the day where she wanted to deal with this kind of shit. She had more than enough problems already.

She had wanted something simple for her bout with Yuki, and it looked like management had gone along with her requests. Her arena looked like something out of a Rocky movie, an old-school styled training gym with all the fixings. Punching bags of every variety, benches, training weights, jump ropes, a wooden floor that seemed as if it had seen better days.


It was all just decoration, a little something to give the match flavor. She could appreciate that, better than fighting in an empty ring with nothing but a ring. The only thing of interest was the referee waiting for them - scrawny guy, Japanese, looked new. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen a male referee on AFW, so this was probably his first match, and definitely his first on a PPV. Combine that with who was involved, and he had to be thinking there was a high chance of his head getting kicked off his shoulders. Understandable.

”Relax.” Stone approached the ring with her hands shoved in her pockets. ”All you’ve got to do is call the knockout. Just stay out of our way till then, and you’ll be fine.”

That seemed to put the guy at ease, slightly, and Stone was grateful for that, but she almost regretted the promise after it came off her lips. It was one that she had no way of ensuring, and she knew it. Even from their brief skirmish, she could tell that Yuki was going to be a tough opponent - strong, resilient, determined. She wouldn’t go down easy, if she went down at all, and Stone fully expected to be knocking her around for quite some time. This was going to get bloody.

She made her way into the ring and took off her jacket, standing tall with just her jeans and tubetop, putting her physique on full display. She doubted it would do anything to intimidate Yuki, but she wanted to keep her body open, anyway. Speed was already going to be against her tonight, she needed every edge she could get.

Stone dropped to her knees and began to stretch, going over a basic routine while she waited for her opponent to show. Not long, now…

Wouldn't be a long wait. The door was already creaking open before Stone had a chance to get settled.

Yuki Kitashima:

Yuki wasn't expecting anything in particular, and when she walked through the door and stepped into the room, it was nice to see that her Valkyrie was thinking along the same lines. It was a space she knew well enough to feel a little nostalgic. Though she had to seriously doubt that that was what Stone was going for.

The wolf's eyes eventually lingered back to her heavyweight adversary getting warmed up between the ropes. It was easier in this setting to get a better scale of what she was up against. In a dingy room, with a ceiling and walls to enclose them, it came across how fuck-off massive Stone was. Taller than most women she'd gone up against, packed with muscle that was easier to see along the shoulders and biceps without that jacket in the way. Himeko Akan might have been a close second. She couldn't be sure about that without some measuring tape, which was saying something.

And this was her #2, huh?

Part of her mind was curious about how Manami would hold up against their ringleader. They were walking into her territory right now.

Yuki huffed once and let all that tension go in a blink. No point in dwelling on any of that now. As she stepped through the ropes into the ring, her focus solely was the only other woman in this room. Her cool brown eyes kept forward and observed every motion she could pick up on. She wanted a read on how Stone was feeling, how she would move, and what was in her head. All the while she attended to her own body, stretching one arm over the other, behind her head, then squatting down to fire up the quads and hamstrings.

"Cute top." She wasn't even joking. It was her kind of style. She could respect someone with half-decent tastes even if she was going to knock the shit out of them in a few minutes. The She-Wolf popped up and bounced on the heels of her boots, loosening up and rolling her shoulders. "Think it'll look better with some blood on it."

Wasn't joking about that either.

”Huh.” Stone perked up as the door opened, though she didn’t bother to look towards it. Not like she didn’t know who was coming. ”You're punctual. Good.”

She continued stretching as her opponent approached the ring, heading with an easy stroll. It was a different air than the last time they’d crossed paths, less intense now that Mako and Manami weren’t stoking fires. She caught a glimpse of her as she rotated her waist and got those kinks out, and that flash showed her the vision of a composed woman, one who wasn’t at all daunted by her size. Yuki wasn’t short, but Stone had half a foot on her, easy. You wouldn’t have known that from the way she came into the ring, slipped through the ropes and stretched out, as well. No fear.

Being frank, Stone didn’t know what to make of her. It was clear she had some loyalty to Manami and whatever her crazy mission was, but she couldn't piece together where that came from. She didn’t strike her as the type to follow blind. Not the type to follow at all.

She had questions. A lot of questions. She kept them off to the side, for now, knowing there’d be time for them later, perhaps. The two of them were about to know each other well, one way or another.

Of all the things she expected Yuki to say, a compliment of her clothing was low on the list, and her first impulse was to see it as some kind of week taunt. Her second impulse told her better, though - from what she could tell, this was a blunt sort of woman, not too different from herself in that regard, with a similar distaste for bullshit. She nodded her thanks and rolled her shoulders, circling one around, then the other.

”Yours, I’m thinking.” It was the obvious comeback to Yuki’s statement, but screw it, it almost came out as a reflex. She stepped forward, coming over to the center of the ring with far fewer steps than most would’ve needed and stood there, waiting. Not getting into her fighting pose just yet, but keeping her arms out and ready to react. ”You look comfy, here. Not your first time in a room like this.”

A simple observation, but one she was confident in.[/color][/color]

So. How was she going to do this?

Yuki couldn't remember the last time she felt intimidated coming into a match. She had a height advantage in virtually every fight she'd ever had. There was an unashamed confidence that came with all of that. An arrogance that came with fickle youth and too many notches under her belt from idiots looking to take her down a peg. She got comfortable. Manami was the last one to change all of that.

Compared to her, Stone was a pebble in the road. Dangerous, but nothing she couldn't handle. Fast for her size and better experienced than her background might suggest. If Yuki was being honest she'd been looking for a good fight for a while. Alicia fit the criteria in spades at a glance. Proof was in the tasting.

Yuki finished with the last of her stretches just in time to catch Stone’s quip. Yuki assumed at first that she was talking about a gym, which no shit. She could say the same thing about her. But then she took another glance over her shoulder and reminded herself of the small details around the room. Four-rope ring, gym bags hanging everywhere, 14 oz. gloves on the rack that she didn’t even bat an eye at earlier. Yuki couldn’t help but snicker to herself and hoped Stone didn’t pick up on that either.

“Sharp one, aren’t you, Detective?” Yuki bounced up and down, hyping herself up before she brought her fists close and tightened up her form. Her gaze kept on the eyes of the stone woman staring her down. It was hard to get a read on her or what she was thinking. Half the battle right there was going to be a problem.

Whatever. Only one way to find out how this was gonna happen. "Come on. Why don't you see how ‘comfortable’ I am?"

Growing big, Stone had gotten used to being able to throw her wieght around when she needed to get her way in the world. While she didn’t like to think of herself as ‘dumb muscle’, brute force was enough to solve many of her problems, enough to crush the competition. ‘Hit them until they fall down, then hit them until they can’t get up’. It was enough to get her into the Valkyries, once upon a time.

But would it be enough against Yuki? She was doubting it. But that wouldn’t stop her from trying.

”Soldier. Marine corps.” Stone answered the unspoken question, simple and plain. She didn’t like to throw her former position out there too much, but she didn’t like to hide it, either. With some, it might’ve been a good way to intimidate, but if Yuki had any reaction at all, she strongly doubted that would be it.

Whatever. Enough introduction for now. They were about to have all the time in the world to know each other better. Yuki wanted her to come, and she was happy to oblige.

This was a boxing ring, so it figured that she would start off with something fitting. She took one giant, step forward to close the distance, juked left, then brought her arm up for a right cross, twisting the blow as it flew so it would follow an arc towards Yuki’s forehead - an overhand right.

Marines. Huh.

US Marines were badasses, right? Best of the best? No-man-left-behind type of deal? A bit more than she bargained for.

Yuki had pegged Stone as military from the second she laid eyes on her. It was more than that candid attitude and that posture that was straighter than a ruler. But any idiot could volunteer and hold a rifle. Yuki had proven that herself once upon a time. Stone had the makings of an elite. Cool-headed, observant, always in tune with the situation, and aware of the bigger picture but never afraid to act. Amongst her company of drunk motorbiking shits, her whole character stuck out like a sore thumb.

Maybe that’s why this felt so right for Yuki. None of the other two gave anywhere the same vibe as Alicia’s presence alone. Yuki felt it as a slight chill on the back of her spine as she clenched her fists and tightened her grip, tentatively stepping forward towards the ring center as the soundless bell rang out. She needed to savor this one.

Yuki leaped back a couple of steps as Stone advanced, coming up on her strong. It was a reflex more than anything. A mix of experience and just raw instinct. She likely would have responded the same way if it was a red-eyed bull standing in Stone's place, though she could already see the resemblance. Yuki was big, she knew that, but Stone was massive. Yuki could feel her steps quaking the ground with small but impressive vibrations through the canvas beneath her boots.

Scary woman.

When Stone came at her, it was with a speed Yuki hadn't quite expected from someone of the American's size. Yuki dipped to the left and narrowly avoided an overhand that would have put her to the floor. Popping up at her side, Yuki would tag Stone's cheek with a quick jab before she bounced back out of range.

"Must have been shit at killing people."

Yuki didn’t seem all that surprised by the minor revelation, which was, itself, a little surprising. Most people Stone met had this image of the marines that carried certain stereotypes, images of guys with American flag tattoos and pickup trucks and camo pants. Not a spiky haired ex-Mormon biker hanging out in Japan with a Brazilian stripper and a lifelong juvenile delinquent.

It could’ve just been that Yuki was good at hiding her cards, but she didn’t seem to give it much thought, and she certainly wasn’t intimidated. Just another piece to add to the puzzle, as Stone tried to get a better read on who, exactly, this woman was. Continuing to paint the picture.

There would be plenty of time for that, as her opponent wasn’t idiotic enough to stand her ground and deal with the charge head on. Stone’s overhand caught nothing but air, and she wound up taking a sharp jab on the cheek for her trouble. It was a swift, stinging blow. Not big on the damage, but enough to make her take a quick, stumbling step to the side before she corrected and righted herself.

She didn’t bother swinging out blind, figuring Yuki would take the time to dart out of range, and she was right on the money. The blonde was playing things safe to start out, dancing around the perimeter to make Stone come her way. The right call. Didn’t mean it would work forever.

The comment was enough to get a snort out of her, though. Wasn’t the first time someone had said something like that her way, though the few that did were careful not to do it in a place where she could legally smack them for it. Not that it stopped her from doing so, anyway.

”Didn’t keep track.” Stone took a step in, putting Yuki back into her range, then lashed out with a jab of her own, following up with another step and a hook from the side. Always advancing, trying to force Yuki to stay on the backfoot.