A Bitter Middle

Valley swore, she’d forgotten how much she disliked reporters. Two minutes with Patty O’ Malley changed all that.

She had just come out of the ring, after a grueling match with Trent, one of her first in Tension. So far, her opinion of the male competitors made for a less than flattering picture, with good reason - first Daisuke, and now this, two guys with massive chips on her shoulder. She didn’t want to buy into stereotypes about the men in Tension all either being complete jerks or pushovers, but it was starting to feel that way.

All she’d wanted was to hit the showers, rinse off, and get all this grime off her body, and she’d been well on her way to doing that when this little ball of annoyance came out of nowhere as she rounded the corner, sticking a microphone in her face and asking her rapidfire questions.

Thirty seconds later, and her patience was already running thin.

”What do you say to those who view this move to Tension as nothing more than an attention grab?” Patty stood on one side of the hall while her camerawoman stood on the other, effectively blocking her path forward. The dressing room was just down the hall, and she considered making a break for it, but there was no guarantee that the tick of a woman wouldn’t follow. It wasn’t like the AFW had a problem with nudity or violating property. ”After the beatdown you took from Manami, maybe you’re a little afraid of the competition, playing it safe?”

Valley sighed and looked Patty over, briefly considering giving the little snot a slap. ”I’m here to compete. Plain and simple. As Trent just found out, I’m no joke, and if anyone thinks I’m slow or losing my touch, I suggest you ask him.” She thumbed behind her. ”I can do that to anyone, anytime, anywhere, and I’ll happily demonstrate in the ring whenever you like. Anything else?”

The match was over, usually when that happens the two competitors would simply make their way back to their respective locker rooms, shower, change and go on to do whatever is it they do for the rest of their evening. The one with the loss usually could have some troubles sleeping at night due to the physical and mental pain but for some a loss wouldn't effect them too much, mentally that is.

Trent fell in the category for the former. His loss against Valley was going to keep him up at night, he was so sure of his victory that he hadn't prepared for what was to happen should he lost. He found himself in the gorilla position, drenched in sweat and exhausted as he took off his elbow and knee pads, tossing them onto the wall as he made his way backstage.

His eye caught his opponent giving an interview, she was talking about him directly and indirectly which made his blood boil even more. Valley was giving her answers to the local interview girl Patty in a confident manner which seemed to annoy him even more. His frustrations were about to boil over.

Trent would suddenly rush in from behind Valley, looking to blind-side her with a painful forearm strike to the back of her head to really knock her senses and take her down to the floor. "We're going to continue this interview together now. Get up!" he roared, reaching down to pass his arms from under her armpits and lock his hands around the back of her head in a Full-Nelson lock.

From there, Trent would pull Valley up on her feet while making her face Patty. "Ask her.....go on, finish your interview" he told Patty while shaking Valley around in the Masterlock, putting strain on her neck.

And so marked the second time someone jumped Valley since she’d been in Tension. It was kind of funny to think about, really. She was fairly sure that had only happened once when she was in Friction, during her entire six year tenure on that brand, but she’d been in Tension only a few months and it had already went down twice. She was sincerely hoping that wasn’t the start of a pattern.

She’d been standing there, minding her own business, when she heard the sound of rushing feet behind her and saw Patty’s bewildered eyes. Her mind connected the dots, but by the time all the pieces slid into place, it was already too late - Trent was all over her.

”Wait-”

His forearm crashed into her face and she went down, nearly tumbling into Patty as she collapsed. She was stunned more than anything, leaving her wide open for him to scoop her up in a full nelson, pulling her tight in the hold as she kicked and twisted.

His question fell on deaf ears - Patty was already off, running down the hall and getting as far from this mess as her high-heeled boots could carry. Valley, on the other hand, had plenty to say. ”Get the hell off me!”’

In a fit of blind rage, Trent was unable to take the loss with grace. While his intention to hurt her after the match was something he was plotting ever since the bell rang he thought it would be more effective if done after the cameras had stopped rolling in the ring arena and the crowd was not privy to the action live in order to jeer on. The Masterpiece ran as fast he could, clobbering Valley right in the face as she turned around to the voice of his loud footsteps.

The strike left her dazed and she almost took Patty down too but thankfully the interviewer managed to avoid getting in the scuffle. Trent was not done yet, he would grab Valley and trap her in the Masterlock submission to put strain on her neck. He would trash her around, pushing her head down towards her chest while ignoring Valley's demands.

"Shut up!" he responded before driving forward, looking to drag Valley towards the nearest wall and press her against it. Still having the submission locked in, Trent would press his front into Valley's back while having her body sandwiched into the wall. "Never cross me again. You understand me? This is over....take this victory and cherish it but do not ever cross my path again!" he whispered.

Seeing a nearby table, Trent would drag the two away from the wall towards the table as he attempted to lift Valley up in the air and slam her down onto the wooden table in a Full-Nelson slam!

This was bad, yes, but it wasn’t an impossible situation. Valley was still gassed from the match, caught off guard and unable to defend herself, but Patty was here. She’d call security, get help, have them split this up before things got too serious, and…

...where was Patty?

Valley looked over to the side just in time to see the reporter beating feet as fast as she could, dashing off and leaving them in the dust, screaming all the way. Not exactly the most helpful thing at the moment. Not the most encouraging sight, but she wouldn’t have long to dwell on it - she had more pressing concerns.

”Getoffgetoff-” She thrashed about as Trent scooped her up in his submission hold, trapping her in a tight full nelson. She would’ve been hard pressed to escape it in the best of times, but with her body aching and her reserves dwindled, it simply was not happening. There was nothing she could do to ward him off as he rammed her against the wall and muttered in her ear. Nothing besides give a quick response, anyway.

”Screw you!”

Not the most thoughtful response, but she’d never been good at quipping when ambushed. She didn’t have much time for anything longer, since Trent’s next move was to lift her up fast and bring her down hard on a table.

Valley didn’t weigh all that much, and getting her through a wooden table wasn’t easy, so it was a testament to Trent’s force that he was able to pull it off, cutting the table in two right down the middle. It left the Slamazon as a tattered mess on the floor, rolling around, kicking her legs, and reaching behind her back to soothe her aching spine.

This was certainly not a planned assault on the part of the Masterpiece. Sure, he was salty that he had lost but he hadn't planned on this attack on the way to the back. Something just caused a fire to light up in his belly when he saw Valley giving the interview to Patty. He wasn't aware that all the former Slamazon wanted to do was go to her own locker room, shower and head home but was abruptly stopped for the interview against her will.

Like a good face superstar at AFW, Valley gave the interview not knowing that Trent would be most displeased about it because they mentioned her victory over him. Hearing her talk about it made him tip over the edge and assault Valley, trapping her in the full nelson then driving her into the wall. After giving her a fair warning, Valley was not having any of it and told him to screw himself an action which left her in even more trouble.

Lifting her up off her feet, the Masterpiece send her crashing down a nearby table thanks to a full-nelson slam which left Valley in a heap around the broken debri of the table. Trent looked visibly concerned at his own actions, he looked around left and right, running his hands through his hair. His breathing was heavy and he realized what he had done.

"Tch....shit!" he cursed, gritting his teeth. Before anyone else could arrive, the Masterpiece would high tail it out of the area making sure he would dip before anyone else would arrive leaving Valley down on the floor.