Mission Start!: Operation Blackmoon

Winning was not something that could lead to success. One could have the same amount or perhaps more if one loses. Especially if the loss is planned. And losing was exactly what Leona planned to do tonight. The agent still maintained her cover as a rookie wrestler wet behind the ears. The agent was more than happy to use the underestimatation from those around her to her advantage. After all, who doesn’t like feeding a rookie to a well known heel to play with.

And that’s what led Leona to this moment here as she waited in the gorilla position. Her opponent was a little trickster by the name of Shiki Jones. A heel well known for her mind tricks and seductive attitude. An attitude that hid her cruel nature. Her background alone was almost enough for Leona to mark her for investigation. Yet it’s who she’s involved with that’s truly important.

The mysterious organization known as blackmoon. A group that are theoretically tied to a spiderweb of crime both inside and out of the ring. Many of their top lieutenants moonlight in the AFW as wrestlers. No doubt using the ring to vent their cruel natures. And Shiki was Leona’s way in. The match she was in was a standard matchup, only with a twist. The winner was allowed to take the loser as their prisoner for the weekend.

Leona planned to be that prisoner. From many of her contacts, many of the blackmoon lieutenants travel together. Meaning that when Shiki beats her, Leona would most likely be taken to their base of operations. Or so she hoped. So when her music came on, Leona would assume her preppy rookie persona and hop to the ring before sliding inside. Wearing her red and blue mission attire, the agent would lean against the ropes and wait for her opponent to come out.

Spoiler:

She just needed to make the loss look convincing.

To say that the beginning of Shikli’s career had been a bumpy one was a understatement at that point. The pinkette had some decent matches, but was still struggling to find her place among her rivals and the audience. That was pretty normal in new wrestlers coming to the league, but Shiki had some additional pressure on her shoulders. To kickstart her career she had come closer to some… dubious people to put it in a polite manner. She was aiming for a “cute and deadly” kind of wrestling persona, something that would allign with her real self, and that way getting into good terms with the Black Moon seemed like a good idea. A strong wrestler should be where the strong wrestlers are, right? The problem with that is that people under the Black Moon only respected strength. The big fish would eat the small one, and now Shiki was under severe pressure since she always needed to perform in order to maintain the standards of her faction. They looked like dangerous people and the pinkette couldn’t afford to be seen as weak. She needed that night’s win.

In order to achieve that victory, Shiki was going to face a newcomer in the ring. The pinkette now had some experience in ring and that would definitely prove like an asset and an advantage she could use in her favor. She was nervous because of the pressure, but she wouldn’t fail. She was going to win that night in a flashy way that would serve as a statement.

Just as Shiki was finishing her preparations the door to the locker room opened, but it wasn’t the regular stagehand who would warn wrestlers of the time to walk on stage. Instead, the pinkette got a grim view that gave her the cold sweat. In front of her would tower Oboro Harada, the Red Princess of the Black Moon and her manager and boss. Shiki had only met that woman a couple of times, but it had been enough to realize it wasn’t a good sign being in the same room with her. The redhead was clad in a weird attire, far from anything Shiki had seen her wearing, almost like a wrestling attire and even in that Oboro had that threatening aura. Oboro walked closer to Shiki, and when she talked it was with her cold, straight to the point manner. “There had been some changes to our plans. You won’t be fighting today.”

“What?” Shiki asked in a irated tone. “You can’t toss me aside like that! I was going to tear that loser apart!” The pinkette couldn’t hide how angry she was at the decision taken by her manager, and that proved to be a huge mistake. Leaning even closer, Oboro held Shiki by the chin before her hand would trail to her neck where it got a solid grip. “I don’t think you are understanding what is happening right now, and you are stepping on thin ice. I said you are not going to fight tonight. Get dressed and go home. Have I made myself clear?” Shiki gulped as it was getting harder to breathe. The threat in Oboro’s voice sounded so real the pinkette felt true dread. “Y-yes...”, she managed to say in a low tone.

“Good.” Oboro released the grip and turned away to walk backstage leaving a coughing Shiki behind. Of course there was a reason for that late change and it was that something felt fishy to the Red Queen: that night’s rival wanted to book a match against Shiki specifically, and given their difference in size and weight that seemed odd for the redhead. Why would anyone that big seek for a match against someone so close to the kawaii size? It was strange and the Red Princess was going to get to the bottom of it.

Akahime enters the ring:

As soon as the announcer gave the proper introduction to that last hour change, Oboro would walk on stage. She would pay no attention to the weirded out crowd that slowly turned excited about what was going on when they noticed her walking down the ramp. For Oboro there was no interest in the people gathering on the stands because the only important thing was that blonde waiting inside the ring. Once she made it on the mat Oboro laid her ceremonial katana to rest before she could have a proper look at her. That woman looked strong, had good size and weight for a fighter, but looked like a complete greenhorn, almost to the point she didn’t like she was up for the challenge. Making it towards the center of the ring Oboro made her introdfuction: “Good night, Leona. Looks like you are in need of a debut and what a coincidence, so do I. I think you wikk find me a much more interesting rival than Shiki, and I would definitely be interested in what you have to offer...” Those words were polite and formal but also sharp as a knife, implying that Oboro wanted to know what that woman was about.

Leona hopped from one foot to another as she waited for her opponent to come out. The agent had done a fair bit of research on Shiki and knew enough to be prepared for this match. Which was why the agent began to grow concerned when an unfamiliar theme began to play instead of her opponents regular one.

And instead of the small pinkette she had been expecting, a taller redheaded woman came out instead. The audience voiced their confusion at this, having no idea who this woman was. Leona knew though, that this was the supposed “Face” of Black moon. The puppet leader that the true leader hid behind. In actuality, this Oboro Haruda was nothing more than the second in command.

That didn’t mean she was any less dangerous, if anything this only made Leona’s job much more dangerous. Why was she put her instead of Shiki? Was she found out before her mission could truly begin. Leona didn’t know, and Oboro would offer no hints as she entered the ring and explained the situation. Quickly, the agent reassumed her rookie persona.

“T-thanks I guess. But what about the girl I was supposed to face? Was she sick or something?”

Oboro didn’t know what to think about that rival yet. She would need some inspecting time before she could pass judgement on wether the blonde was actually a greenhorn rookie or just playing dumb. When she had that answer a new question would arise: was that woman hiding some agenda? Why booking a match against Shiki in particular? There were so many words and so few answers for now. Oboro decided to play it cool for some time and indulge that woman, giving her her fight while trying to get as much information from her as possible. Depending on what transpire during the match the Red Princess would decide on what to do with Leone once she was her POW.

“You don’t have to lose time worrying about Shiki. She isn’t sick, she just wasn’t up to the task tonight and asked me to take over. I’m sure you will find our match much more revealing.” Oboro’s tone was cold and sharp, with some air of threat but never breaking her polite position. It was like something one could hear in an aggressive business meeting instead of a wrestling ring, a statement that implied that either Oboro was great at bluffing or she had something really threatening and frightening about her character. Without paying much more attention to the exchange the redhead signalled her readiness to the referee. It was time to get down to business.

Leona knew now that she couldn’t let anything slip. The way Oboro’s eyes looked her up and down wasn’t that of someone checking her out. It was the eyes of someone checking to see if what they saw in front of them was real. The agent really needed to crank on the charm, she was no longer special agent Leona. She was now Leona the rookie, a greenhorn that was still learning the ropes of the ring and was very confused on why her opponents had been changed.

“U-um ok I guess. Well then I hope that you and I can have a great match! Just don’t be mad if I get to take you home with me alright hehe!” the blond giggled, though there was an obvious hint of nervousness in her tone. Hoping that her opponent didn’t notice, the rookie would give a last shake of her arms before raising them up to invite Oboro for a test of strength. At the same time Leona couldn’t help but ask. “So you already know my name, but I don’t know yours. I doubt you want me to call you Shiki’s friend all night or something right?” she asked.

Oboro stared coldly at Leona while the blonde talked and talked. The only mention of her being friends with Shiki was enough to make the redhead’s blood boid, but she had been trained and tested against the most aggressive of businesspeople in Japan, so she knew really well how to maintain her cool and the composure. “Oboro.”, she said plainly.

There was something really odd about that rival. Her voice was almost shaky and she really looked nervous, but her build and presence wasn’t one of a shaky debutant. It was as if she was trying to look like she was less than she was, and that unsettled Oboro since she didn’t know to what end her rival would do that. The Red Princess really needed to play her cards well if she was going to find out.

The bell rang and Leona decided to start by inviting Oboro to a test of strength. It was a logical way of starting a match given the fact that both women had similar size, so Oboro accepted and locked hands with Leona. There was a catch though, and it was that Oboro wouldn’t push to her whole amount of strength but only half of it, seeing how strong that Leona really was or if she was trying to hide something for her. Maybe Oboro was acting a little paranoid, but in her line of work one could never bee too cautious.

Leona already knew Oboro’s name, but the fact the redheaded woman told her gave Leona the solace that she wasn’t truly discovered just yet. Her cover was still secure, but she needed to be very careful. Oboro was watching her like a Hawk, and Leona needed to maintain her disguise of a skittish squirrel. And not a fearsome wolf.

Her biggest disadvantage however, was Leona’s own body. While she played herself as a rookie wrestler, her body was toned with years of endless training in various martial arts and exercises. Her body didn’t fit the story she told. The agent needed to be careful, because if she knew such, there was little doubt that Oboro noticed too.

Luckily, there was a silver lining to all of this. And it became obvious as soon as the rest of strength started. Leona had been trained in various martial arts, but when she was given the assignment of becoming an undercover wrestler. She was forced to undergo a crash course in the wrestling fundamentals.

So when after a while of getting nowhere with the rest of strength, Leona would try to pivot her hips and transition into a headlock. The move was clumsy and could easily be escaped, but the beauty of it was that Leona wasn’t trying to make it sloppy. Her inexperience was put on full display, and could only lend credence to her rookie alibi.

Oboro was still unsure of what to think about that rival. The redheaded had a pretty good eye for judging people, it was a very useful skill in business after all, but there was something in that woman that suggested Leona was concealing something, but there came that oblivious attitude that made her look like a scared rookie. The thought of Leona being more of what her words and acts claimed was like a splinter on Oboro’s mind, so the Red Princess reassured herself: she would get to the bottom of this.

In order to do so, some wrestling was in order. A test of strength was a more than suitable way to both start the match and test her rival skills. Leona had a well built body and when Oboro contained some of her strength it showed that the blonde actually had some push to her. After some instants fighting for supremacy Leona found a smart way to transition into a headlock. The lock, though, wasn’t as good as it could be. Not like that mattered since Oboro had a contingency plan in case that happened. The key to it was the headlock giving the Red Princess a free shot at her rival’s waist. After wrapping her arms around it, Oboro would use her own’s body weight to gain leverage and try forcing a release while taking Leona down to the mat, where she could think of a decent move to transition to.

Leona didn’t know how much her act was convincing Oboro. Most usually fell for it immediately, but the redheaded woman in front of her was much more observant than most. The blonde would have to rely mostly on her inexperienced wrestling skills if she wanted to keep her cover going.

So she started by trapping Oboro’s head in a nice and tight headlock. Though the technique could definitely use some work as her redheaded opponent was quick to pop herself out of it and lift Leona up and dropping her to the floor in a takedown! The blonde would immediately try to roll onto her hands and knees, though she didn’t know how far she would get before Oboro was upon her.

Oboro was still having some hard time believing that that big and strong looking woman was a complete pushover. Could it be that the AFW staff was deceived by her looks and got a completely inexperienced wrestler in their roster? Maybe her end goal was making that bulky woman one of their jobbers since there was a good fanbase fopr a strong woman losing match after match, but that still left the incognita of why did Leona approach Oboro’s people and requested Shiki out of nowhere…

Just as Oboro noticed Leona trying to crawl on all fours and back on her feet she knew it was her chance. “No, you don’t!”, she said while stomping on Leona so she wouldn’t get up. Then the Red Princess would get on top on her rival who would be on her stomach and lock a camel clutch aimed to get some damage done, but as she did it Oboro would also lean closer to her rival’s back of the head so she could talk to her. “Is this all you have? I wouldn’t have thought you were a wimp like this, so you better start fighting back or you are going to have a bad night...” Oboro wanted to push her rival against a wall and see how she reacted.