A Newcomer's Wager: Daichi Kazura vs. Zoey Andrews (D)

Zoey Andrews, a newcomer to the scene from the states, seemed to step inside the Tension Gym with a bit of a wide-eyed expression and a grin ear to ear at the excitable superfan of the sports seemed to still not believe she was actually here. All her training all her work all those wonderful hours preparing at Foxez had led to this moment and now she was an official pro! Well granted not "officially" yet as she still had her in-ring debut pending but she was on the roster and that counted much as anything else! She would ask someone to pinch her but she seemed to be alone and that probably would've been a touch awkward to ask a stranger.

Zoey walked into the gym and couldn't help but whistle a little, as this place seemed to be quite the facility. Special rings laid out, mat padding on the floor and of course a while state of the art workouts area; weights, treadmills, stationary bikes the whole nine yards. There was a lot to take in and really Zoey wasn't sure where to begin! Already decked in her standard attire for what she intended to wear in the Tension Ring, she set her workout bag aside having a bottle of water in hand as she considered her options presented before her.

"Alright, guess some biking can work to get the blood pumping." Zoey said to herself, taking a moment to stretch a bit to get a little loose before she walked over to the workout bikes and moved to one of them setting her bottled water on it before she began to peddle and needless to say she shifted to the zone of sorts. She was gonna be a Tension member before long and if she was to compete in this competitive roster, she needed to have both mind and body ready for about anything. While her excitement was ever present, she also was determined to put her best foot forward here.

Hence, her aim to make the most of this workout and get some good exercise in, make it a bit of a routine between days she is booked for matches and rest days, as she continued to peddle on the bike moving at a nice even tempo as she seemed to find a groove for herself rather quickly.

Zoey was not the only one who was excited to make her debut at AFW. As a life long wrestling fan and someone who had wanted to go-pro ever since he first fell in love with the sport, Daichi was ready to take this place by storm. He was ready, he had to be, he had trained trained hard for this moment and now that he was finally here, the next step was to surely climb all the way to the top of the ladder and become the best wrestler in AFW, become the world champion.

Of course, that meant tangling with veteran wrestlers, the legends and even those new in the door who shared a similar vision as the purple haired male's dreams. Of course, his heart, his passion and his desire would burn through everyone else's. Enter the Tension gym, the start of his journey. He would make his way out of the locker room to the main gym hall, clad in his blue wrestling briefs and a sleeveless jacket.

Daichi:

"Ahhh! This feels right at home" he said, stretching his arms while walking around in the gym, finding the workout bikes the best place to start some cardio. He noticed someone young as him, clad in some generic white sports bra and briefs, leaving nothing to the imagination of on-lookers. That amount of confidence and physique only meant that she was a wrestler too- however, he didn't recognize her as any of the AFW greats.

Not giving much thought, he get on a bike next to hers and wave her hello. "Hey" he said before starting to peddle. After a moment, he noticed her speed of peddling seemed to be more than this, prompting him to look over her a couple of times before starting to out-peddle her out of his competitive nature.

"Hah....Hah....so....I guess you're new as well huh? Hah...." he panted, trying to strike up a conversation while working out. Name's Daichi and....hah....I'm looking to be the best wrestler. My goal is to be the best.....hah....of the best....to be the champion" he said, starting to work up a sweat.

Zoey had been focused on her workout for the moment, probably wouldn't have noticed the guy who pulled up next to her if he didn't strike conversation. He said hey to here and she turned her head smiling back. "Hey there." Zoey said back friendly before she continued to peddle. Though her attention shifted as this guy seemed to speed up and tried to keep pace with her, which only caused Zoey to peddle faster as she had not been about to be outdone here.

"T-the best huh...~?" Zoey said, between pants but continued on with that grin of hers. "Admirable goal...but not the only one, racing to the top..." Zoey said taking a sip of her water as she continued to peddle a bit in this unofficial competition working up a sweat her end as she seemed to view this guy as an excuse to bring out her best here and hey, who said competition was ever a bad thing?

Wrestling was a competitive sport no doubt but the pro-wrestling business was even more competitive. It was not just about winning but it was about being the best. Many had the same goal, to be the best, to be the champion but only one could realistically achieve that. Which is why some pro-wrestlers would not be so open to their colleagues, seeing them as the competition to cut down.

Daichi was not one of those and it seemed that the girl before him was not either. She flashed a smile at him and they continued on, Daichi increasing the pace of his peddling to out-pace her before striking up a conversation. He noticed that Zoey started to peddle faster, making him raise an eyebrow and once more increase his speed to catch up or try to out pace her- making him pant and sweat more while hearing her.

After she spoke, Daichi would reply back to her"Yeah that may be true but I am the only who will be at the top. I won't let anyone stand in my way to becoming the best of the best, the champion!"

While everyone tried to be the best of the best, there was no reason why one could not strive to be the best they could be and wish the same for others. That is how Zoey saw herself and hey if she beat people rising up the ranks and giving their all, that meant a hell of a lot more than if she bested people who had worries about what they could be in a business as competitive as Pro Wrestling.

"That's the spirit! I prefer people who have some gusto, makes it so that if I rise above them that really makes it an accomplishment so please give it your best effort~" Zoey said, panting and sweating but all smiles as she noticed that he also increased his tempo to try and one up her and she couldn't help but smile back at this display, pumping her peddle again as if daring him to climb even higher right next to her!

"Zoey...Zoey Andrews. I am new here...in fact, I haven't had a match yet but it'll be coming soon!" Zoey said, exchanging her name and a more formal introduction even in-between breaths as she took a sip of water.

Being new to AFW but certainly not new to wrestling, Daichi knew he was going to be singled out as being the "new" guy in the block by the veterans of the business or that he would be the target of fellow rookie wrestlers who saw him being a threat to them going up to the top of the pro wrestling ladder. However, Zoey did not seem that type of girl, she would smile at him and let him know that she preferred people that had guts and shared the sentiment that if she beats people, presumably like Daichi, that would be even more of an accomplishment for her.

Wait? Rise above them- did she take a subtle dig at him? Those were the thoughts that entered his mind as he shook his head, smiling back at her when she mentioned her name to him. She mentioned she was new, this could either be the start of a beautiful friendship or one of the greatest rivalries in AFW history.

"Hah....nice to meet you Zoey but nobody can rise above me in the gym or the ring..." he said, keeping up with her but it was clear that the female seemed to have a bit more stamina than him. He would then suddenly stop the peddling and would get up off the bike, standing next to her with his hand on his hips.

"Hah haven't had a match yet either have you? Hah.....neither have I. How about we....fix that....instead of trying to out-do each other on the bikes?" he smirked, as he was on to her that she was competing with him on the bikes all along.

Zoey didn't mean any offense, if Daichi took issue with her comment her attitude would be to prove her wrong in the ring much as anything. In a way statements like that seemed to spark the best of herself and her foes, or least that is how Zoey had seen this as she continued to put the peddle to the meddle before Daichi here.

However, Daichi seemed to slow down a bit which seemed to cause Zoey's eyebrows to raise as she wondered if this was his concession to their unofficial little contest. However, as he stops to break and begins to speak it seems his intent is just the opposite; as he wanted to make a bigger challenge with an area the both of them had more passion for, and that was enough to get Zoey to slow to a stop as it seemed to peak her curiosity. She would take a moment to catch her breath and drank from her water bottle as she seemed to smile at this offer.

"Speaking my language...seems like a win-win to me so who I am to protest?" Zoey said, panting a bit as she drank another sip of water and used a towel to wipe off some sweat as she couldn't help but roll her eyes lightly at his boast that followed the offer which she had taken only as a challenge itself.

"Guess we'll see, who rises...above who..." Zoey said back to him as she seemed to grin a bit. Though she seemed to have something on her mind as she added on. "So, just standard no ref 3 count wins situation, or something...meatier?" Zoey asked Daichi.

She seemed to be a bit disappointed at first when she noticed that he was slowing down. However, his reason for doing so was actually to bring up the stakes. Instead of trying to out-do each other in this meaningless challenge, Daichi instead wanted to focus on their actual talent- wrestling inside the squared circle. He would stand up next to her, grinning ear to ear as it was clear he was challenging her to a wrestling match.

She seemed to stop when she heard that, drinking more water and wiping the sweat off her body. The young man would show a toothed grin when she suggested a standard match. That was a good suggestion but surely they could do better. Daichi didn't bother toweling off, they were gonna get equally sweaty soon anyway.

"I thought you were going to be a bit more exciting than that Zoey" he said, shrugging his shoulders before adjusting his wrestling briefs. "Lets up the game. You and me, submission match only through a verbal submission" he said, extending his hand to her for a handshake to seal the deal.

"And when I win, I want you to admit I am the better wrestler between us and then....I want some body worshipping" he said, doing everything he could to make the point that he is better than Zoey.

This of course seemed to spark her interest, this wouldn't be much of an official match but it had all the same amount of pride and worth any match did and the fact this guy wanted to spice things up....needless to say his offer and the terms of it caught her interest as she almost seemed to scoff at the audacity of such a request but her mama raised no quitter as she couldn't help but take a moment to mill over the proposition.

"My my my you have quite the taste. Seem the type who really wants his ego stroked, or maybe you are a sub deep down hoping for a good time." Zoey mused a bit, a mix of playful banter but far as the offer was concerned she seemed to have no worries about that reaching her hand out to shake Daichi's own hand.

"Consider it a done deal. Just uh don't expect me to lie down for you or nothing, I aim to make the most of this bet~" Zoey admitted back as she had a fire in her eye about this and couldn't quite mask the excitment. She had not expected her first taste of AFW action to come so early!

Verbal submission with another young guy looking to make a name for himself, this was bound to produce some magic of sorts as she took another sip of her water and glanced over to him. "So, care to lead to the ring~?"

After setting out the stakes of the match, it took him a second to realize that perhaps it was a bit too much to ask for someone who he had just met and someone who was a rookie like him. However, the competitive nature kicked in and he would blurt out the first thing that came on his mind. Luckily, it seemed that Zoey was also not one to shy away even though she did take the chance to tease him about it.

He blushed when she mentioned he was a sub but he would shake his head. "Na-uh!" he would say. "I'm not submissive!" he would say, trying to clear his name. She would then happily accept his challenge and would ask him to lead the way. He nodded his head and would begin walking towards the ring, waving her over. "Sure thing" he said.

Daichi would walk towards the ring, hopping up the ring apron and then making his way inside. He stood in the middle, doing some light stretches and warm-ups. "I think are plenty warmed up enough already?" he asked.