Ciara's Debut: Veteran vs Veteran (for psychopatrick88)

Ciara Austerlitz glared across the parking lot at the impressive building that was the AFW gym, brushing a lock of hair back into place, as her heart beat in anticipation like a high schooler awaiting test results.

"All right, Ciara, it's now or never. Sarah, if today's the day, you better watch out," the young Spec Ops growled.

Yanking her gym bag out of the back of her Audi (or Lysandra's Audi, she should say... damn that girl was rich), Ciara gave a once-over her belongings before striding through the lot towards the entrance.

"Sports bra, One-Four-One fatigues, gauntlets, yup, can't wait to get out of this damn sweatshirt and sweatpants."

Ciara's pace ate up the yards between her and the entrance, her body posture tilted forward ever so slightly in a stance of aggression and combat readiness. She was jumping into the "lion's den" of all places, but if she wanted to meet anyone for a good fight, she sure as hell wasn't going to do it out in the street.

Only a few score feet separated her from her entrance and her challenge. Ciara tensed her body and took a deep breath. One way or another, she'd likely be getting a fight.

"Seven seconds to ground zero, you muppets."

Rose was on one of the exercise machines at the time. She was sat down, and had ahold of a metal bar above her, gripping it with both hands, and was pulling it down and letting it pull back, lifting up the weights it was attached to. Right now she was lifting roughly 80 lbs of weight.

She was in her full ring attire, almost never being without it. Her hair was also a little wet as well, indicating she had a shower roughly ten to twenty minutes ago.

As she did reps on the machine, her thoughts dwelled on the sumo that had almost assaulted her in the lockers, yet instead they helped each other out slightly. She shook her head, wondering what the hell it was that compelled her to do that.

.oO(I shouldn't have given that asian bitch a second of my time.. and yet I did. The hell's going on with me?) She thought, continuing to do reps on the machine. Did prison really make her this soft? When she thought about it, about how the government screwed her over, about how long she was in prison for, even though she was preserving the law in her mind.

So what if a few people died? So what if she enjoyed it? The government got their guilty men, so why did it matter how they arrived to them.

She stopped pulling down on the machine, and started to grip the bar tightly, grinding her teeth when she reminisced on what happened to her. Forced to live with slime, abused by the women that recognized who she was, and the guards looking the other way when she was getting the crap kicked out of her.

She was starting to tremble, until she finally let out a loud cry and yanked the bar down hard.. tearing it off the wire. The bar clattered to the ground, leaving Rose hunched over, and panting in shudders from her explosion of rage.

Other people working out in the gym would receive a second reason for a near heart attack when, right after Rose's outbirst, Ciara swung open the entrance door and marched in, her swagger reminiscent of many in the military, and yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Alright, which one of you muppets is Sarah Gatt?! Come on, who knows her! I need a good fight and I needed it yesterday!"

Most of the people working out in the gym shuddered at this intimidating new woman and her open challenge to the Queen of Brawl. Quite a few tried not to look her in the eye, and some even inched away from her, as if they were expecting a wrathful Sarah to descend upon Ciara and instigate a battle in their midst. Ciara's eye twitched in annoyance, and she strode for the locker room, glaring about her in challenge.

"What? Are you people really that scared?! Of just telling me where the girl is? Pah. Fine! If she comes looking for me, I'll be in the damn locker room!"

As she finished her rant/challenge, Ciara strode past Rose and her damaged exercise machine, subconsciously registering that someone was seated there, but too intent on locating Sarah Gatt to recognize her. But looking around her in broad arcs, it would only be a matter of time before Rose's angry figure entered Ciara's attentive field of vision.

Rose was staring down at the bar that she just ripped off the machine, still panting softly as she looked down at it. It was then that she heard someone burst into the room. She looked up at the woman, and winced a little as the woman spoke loudly in the small room, her voice reverberating everywhere.

She said nothing though as the girl started to walk around. .oO(Sarah Gatt? Who the fuck was she?) She let out a snerk as everyone remained quiet, but then her smile faded as she accused everyone in the room of being scared.

That, she would not allow someone to get away with. She stood up from her machine, and started to walk behind her. She tapped her on the shoulder once she got close enough.

Ciara stiffened when Rose tapped her on the shoulder and slowly turned her body around, expecting to glare over her shoulder at her intended target... but her eyes locked with someone else's entirely. Her challenging demeanor dropped away before she could even register who the person was, and she moved to quickly face Rose, whipping her body around almost instinctively from combat experience, her mind racing and rebuking her folly.

Stupid, stupid, STUPID! The moment I'm out of the field and in a gym, I let my damn guard down! Windowpane and Ghost would have my head if they heard somebody got behind me only a few weeks out of the field! I should've waited until Katsu or Lys got back from Hokkaido before I scouted this place-

Ciara's mind and body suddenly froze as she took in the figure of the former bounty hunter. She had studied more than her fair share of that area of mercenary practice and watched in enough on recent AFW matches to recognize the older woman in an instant. Ciara's expression would noticeably change from of anger and self-rebuke to that of surprise and recognition.

"Oh bollocks, you've got to be kidding me..."

That's all Ciara would have time to say if Rose decided to do something drastic, but as much as the Spec Ops girl relished a challenging fight, in the back of her mind, the girl hoped that Rose would be willing to talk. She had learned too much of this woman's reputation, history and modus operandi to take La Diabla lightly.

Rose had an arm drawn waaay back as Ciara turned around, and was about to see if she could adjust Ciara's skull to cave in slightly, until she heard what the woman said. Of all the things someone could've said when seeing her fist drawn back like that, it was a bit strange.

She lowered her fist slowly, seeing the look in her eyes. That expression on her face. Was it.. pity? Just who the hell was this girl? She narrowed her eyes, and took a step back, glaring at her.

"First you come in here, asking for some no-account wrestling slut, ignore me, accuse me of cowardice... just who the hell do you think you are?" She asked, glowering at the woman beneath her hat.

Ciara had regained enough of her composure to glare back at Rose, but inwardly she sighed in relief. As confident as the girl was in her own abilities, she did not relish starting out in the AFW with an enemy like Rose. Lysandra had told her in very strong language that they would probably attract enough trouble from the Era of Hell as it was anyways.

Quickly she decided to relax her body language, but her muscles were still coiled like powerful steel springs, an instinctive sensation that Ciara only experienced around dangerous individuals. She was no political speaker or corporate tycoon like Lysandra was, but Ciara hoped to defuse the situation as best she could.

Cocking her head forward and to the left, rubbing her neck in a subtle gesture of apology, Ciara bantered with the older woman.

"You're in a rivalry with Akashi Tanikaze and you don't know who Sarah is? Heh, I want front row seat when you finally meet her. Anyways, my bad about the yelling and not seeing you there. My friends tell me I have tunnel vision if I've got a goal right in front of me, and I've been taught that if you want to get someone's attention, you either need to be loud or use comms."

The military girl straightened up and looked Rose straight in the eyes.

"As for who I am? Ciara Austerlitz, front line, center rank, proud member of the One-Four-One. I'm at least as tough as any of the other girls in the AFW, but I've been fighting in that clusterfuck they're calling the Second Russian Civil War for the last five years, so no one know's what's going to hit them for now. Now, as for who you are, I'm well-aware, probably even more than the muppets here in the league. You've gained considerable rep in SpecForces circles all around the U.N., but we were all shocked when you reappeared, over HERE of all places."

Ciara shrugged. "From what I can tell from your matches, though, prison hasn't robbed you of your touch, as well as," The raven-haired girl gave Rose a pointed look, "...your proficiency with concealed weapons."

Rose relaxed a little when she saw Ciara relax, and watched as she rubbed her neck, taking that, and her explanation as a sign of apology. She raised an eyebrow, wondering what she meant about wanting front row seat when she meets her.

She snerked a little upon hearing her admitting her flaws. "Heh.. never needed to be loud OR use comms." She replied calmly. When she listened to her telling her rank, it all made sense to her.

"Ah.. SpecOps." She nodded a little, then snorts a little when she said that she was shocked, and crossed her arms under her chest.

"It's not like I WANT to be in this cesspool of filth. Give me ANY opportunity that doesn't have government dogs after my ass, I'll take it in a heartbeat."
Already she found herself talking to this woman more than she's really spoken to anyone here in the AFW. She snerks as she mentions about her proficiency with concealed weapons.

"If anything, that's improved, thanks to prison. Heh." She then blinked as she just made a joke at what happened to her. She cleared her throat, shaking it off like it didn't happen.

"So what's caused this Sarah girl to end up on YOUR radar?" She asked, leaning against the machine she broke a couple minutes ago.

Ciara lined up all the reasons in her mind. To be completely honest, the fact that Rose and Sarah had never crossed paths was an interesting prospect, considering both of their fearsome reputations.

"Well, firstly, Sarah's largely considered to be the premier tough girl in the AFW, especially because she was formerly the leader of a powerful gang before her arrest. From what I've heard and seen, she's a brawler, clean and simple. She doesn't have a clear combat style, just an unregimented approach to fighting that is all her own. Despite that, she's ripped through the AFW with a winning streak a mile wide, and her reputation is such that the rest of these muppets," Ciara swept an arm rather dismissively across a swath of the room, "are afraid of even the remotest possibility of being in the vicinity of one of her fights. She was proud, dangerous, and fed off of victory like lifeblood. Even watching the raw streams from Russia, some of the vets were wondering when somebody would have enough minerals to actually bring her down. Seriously. An 11-match victory streak? In any fighting circle, that's absurdly good, and since the AFW gathers some of the best female fighters the world over, that's practically unheard of."

Ciara crossed her arms, cocked her head to one side, and smirked expectantly before continuing.

"This next part will interest you. You know who finally took her down? Akashi Tanikaze. In a straight-up fight, the two fought so hard that the match recaps and DVDs are still selling at a fever pitch in several different countries...aand the U.S. army, don't ask me how. The bout would have easily lasted for two to three times as long if it wasn't for Akashi's new finisher, but the move was so damn devastating that the sumo nearly KO'd herself along with Sarah. Here's the catch, though. If you ever see one of Sarah's recaps though, you'll notice some equipment on her shoulders. It. Is. Not for show. Turns out that Sarah can't take her first loss quite so well, and she takes off the device before attacking Akashi postmatch. The hunk of metal dents the canvas from its weight and from what I could tell, it also might use a coiled spring system to limit her strength. Needless to say, the moment Sarah removed that thing, Akashi's chances against Gatt changed from 'bleeding and sore but able to take her beating without getting killed' to 'In waaay over her head.' Took nearly all of ring security and an overcharged taser to stop her from murdering Tanikaze. So to recap, she went 11 matches undefeated with that... that thing on her shoulders."

Ciara bared her teeth in a hungry grin. "I don't know about you, but if Sarah's not a prime opponent, then I don't know who is. I'll seek out the sumo girl afterwards, but one, I promised Katsumi first dibs and two, I think you'll want to settle things with her first."

The young Spec Ops operative shrugged and picked up her gym bag. "So that's why Sarah's a big blip on my radar. Anyways, I gotta change out of these damn sweatclothes. Won't take a minute, I just need to find a new locker and the best sparring partner in the gym." Ciara made a show of turning around and looking around the room. "Hey, since everyone else, scurried away, you wouldn't know where to find one, would you?" Ciara flashed Rose a knowing smile and turned to find the locker room.

Rose listened to Ciara as she explained who the woman was. She snorted at the fact she was a brawler. "Sounds very sloppy.." She commented. As Ciara continued, she had to admit, she was a little surprised about the girl's winning streak, then scoffed. "Hmph.. just goes to prove the girls here know jack shit about real fighting." She replied, crossing her arms under her chest, in agreement with Ciara upon branding the girls in the room 'Muppets'. "11 win winning streak, huh? Sounds to me like she has some kind of performance enhancement." She commented.

Her jaw dropped in surprise when she heard who it was that actually took her down. "The sumo whore??" She asked in disbelief. "Hmph... maybe my fight with her will be a little more interesting than I thought.." She commented. "New move?"

She couldn't help but laugh a little upon hearing about the equipment on Sarah's shoulders. "Who does she think she is? Karate kid?" She asked, and couldn't help but laugh as she was told how Sarah kicked the living crap out of her. "Hah... seems I'll have to find a way to break the equipment so she can't take it off." She commented.

"You're right, she does sound like an interesting opponent to take on. Especially if she has murderous intent like you're talking about. She then grinned a little. "Oh, someone else is going after sumo whore? Be sure to tell the girl about the rematch I'm gonna be in with her. I'm gonna pound her senseless." She declared.

Upon hearing her asking for a sparring partner, her smile faded a little bit. "While you are most likely not like the other morons in this place, I'll have to decline. I never hold back, I don't spar. So if you want a fight with me, expect it to be brutal." She warned.