Family's Family

Taylor gave Junko a suspicious look. She couldn't help but think that she was chit chatting away just to distract her, and she wasn't very happy that her super impressive dropkick didn't get the reaction she thought it would. She nodded her way through until Junko was done, and then Taylor added some of her own.

"You haven't mentioned that Kirin or the Ice Dragons couldn't do what I just did. I can explain the whole thing to you later, but it's a driving dropkick," she said, and punched her knuckles through her other hand. "You throw it from really far back, and the flip lets you cover crazy distance. I train it by lining up chairs in front of a heavy bag and starting behind them." She shook her head at Junko. "A lot's changed since Kirin's day. And yours."

She launched herself again at Junko, eager to show off some more and show up her mother-in-law's old clients. She jumped again, this time up high at the ropes to Junko's side. She planted her feet on the top rope and sprung back, arching in the air to spin and swing her shin leg in a big arc at Junko.

Junko listened to Taylor's explaination. Normally she would have found it quite informative but the way that Taylor said it made her explanation irrelevant for all intents and purposes. Junko didn't mind if Taylor wanted to make fun and disrespect her all day long, but now she was trying to show up her long time partner, dear friend and godmother of her children. Junko knew that Taylor was cocky and a brat. But she thought the disrespect the girl had for Junko was personal That she was only trying to dig at the woman because she was teasing her about grandchildren. She had no idea that Taylor was so arrogant that she would draw the rest of her family into their little squabble. A squabble that Junko had thought was more friendly than anything else.

Junko watched Taylor bounce around once more. She couldn't keep up with the girl on her best day. She was athletic but she wasn't trained for the high flying stuff one bit. When Taylor flung herself at Hunko, the older woman bent her legs at Taylor, throwing her body recklessly at her daughter-in-law to try and collide with her. She'd eat the shin, but she hoped that she could try and spot where she wanted to take it rather than where Taylor was aiming it while she tried to plow into Taylor and put her down on the mat as well.

With her torso taking the brunt of the impact, she coughed in pain as she tumbled, just hoping that maybe she could land with Taylor or on top of her.

Taylor slapped a palm down on the mat to slow her fall, but Junko had messed up her landing enough that she tumbled down in a tangled mess with the old manager. It was the sort of situation that used to make Taylor sweat when she laid awake in bed, running through all the terrible what-ifs for an upcoming match. Given her style, the last thing she ever wanted was for someone to hold her down. But a few things had changed since then.

She landed on her side, Junko laying crossways on top. She kicked one leg out to the side so that she flattened her back against the mat, and then shoved against the mat with her foot and kicked her leg up over her head for momentum to try to roll over on Junko and put her on bottom.

Junko was hurting from the fall as well as the shin but she had managed to get on top of Taylor. That was at least good. She'd try and deal with the pain later. Junko spread her own legs. Now that she had the top, she wanted to try and keep it and that was the best way she could think to.


She also wasn't done with Taylor, but she was hurting and Taylor was pushing, trying to gain the advantage. Junko could only think to do one thing and she was pretty certain what would happen when she did. But as Taylor flipped her over, her hand snaked out and reached for Taylor's head. She reached for Taylor's ears to grab onto it as tightly as she could and tug it.

"Taylor!" Junko snapped in a sharp tone. "This will NOT continue until you apologize for disrespecting my best friend, a proud wrestler and the godmother of my children this instant!"

"Aah!" Taylor cried out sharply, in both pain and sudden outrage. She was not going to be handled like a child.

Through clenched teeth, she snarled "That's funny, where I come from you've gotta earn respect." She grabbed onto Junko's wrist and squeezed it so tightly that the could feel tendons around her fingertips. Her neck was cricked to the side, and she could only just see Junko's eyes.

She got to a position where she could pull back on Junko's wrist enough that her ear wasn't being ripped off, and held steady for a moment. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry that I pointed out that I can do things neither of you can, and that I'm better than both of you. Are you mad?" She gave her a tight smile, her jaw clenched. "Do you need a hug?"

With her head in tight near Junko's shoulder, Taylor kicked her legs up above her in a sort of a handstand, and then swung them back down and dropped her knee into Junko's midsection, not hard enough to kill her but enough to send a message.

Junko cried in pain when Taylor's squeezed her wrist tightly. But she wasn't going to let go. Not unless the ear came with it. Especially after what she had just said. She opened her mouth, getting ready to speak when Taylor pushed off and drove her knee into Junko's midsection.

Her eyes widened and she coughed, letting go of Taylor's ear as she gave a hard shove to push Taylor off so she could crawl away a few feet and recover. Once she was a little recovered, She began to speak. "You'll never be better than Rosie-chan on attitude alone, you brat." She growled.

"And you're not there, you're here.. And here, respecting family is the most important thing. If you want to live in that way so badly, then you should take Junichi-kun with you and go." She said as she glared at Taylor.

Johnny had been watching the scene unfold for a while. He wasn't particularly amused that things had gotten to this point int he first place and his brow remained furrowed in annoyance most of the time. It was the last thing he wanted and he knew right where it was going to end up. And that pissed him off more than anything.

"Dude, this shit ain't cool anymore, guys." He said finally. "My fuckin' Ma and Wife tryin' to beat the shit outta each other? Fuck that." He said and turned around. "I'm outta here. Gimme a buzz when you're done killin each other." Johnny said and began to walk out of the room.

Taylor was on her feet in an instant once she was free. She kept her knees bent, ready for anything while Junko spoke. She folded her arms and tilted her head. "Okay, maybe I'm not a lady, but I could beat any of them in a fight," she sassed. "I think you know a thing or two about what it takes to win."

She felt a pang in her chest, and drew a sharp breath. She felt like this was getting away from her. She looked back at Johnny, and her hardened expression melted into something between panic and remorse. "Johnny..." She called after him reproachfully, pleadingly.

She turned back to Junko, and tried to erase all the uncertainty from her face. She jabbed a finger at Junko, and her voice came out louder and angrier than she anticipated. "Yeah, family is important! But you're spoiled with it! You've always had a good family, and you just take the way things are for granted. What about me? Family is work, and it's respecting each other. And you don't know me, and apparently, you aren't willing to do the work."

She became light on her feet again, and kept her hands poised loosely just above her waist. "If we're done here, then fine, but I was hoping you'd show me some of who you are. I already know the history, but I don't know you, and you don't know me. So maybe forget about who's supposed to call who what name and let it go a little bit, eh?"

Johnny stopped when Taylor spoke. He turned his head but he didn't look around completely. He shook his head. If they wanted to come out and not act all super crazy, then they could. As long as they were in the ring, Johnny was going to be somewhere else.

Junko too couldn't believe Johnny's outburst. Her face softened and then hardened again. For her dear son to see them go at it, Junko couldn't believe it. She knew that he was worried about it and then it just happened like it was inevitable. She'd have to make it up to him later but Taylor's words snapped her back to attention and she slowly stood up.

"Listen, Taylor-chan." She said. "Obviously you've had a different life than my boys, but... What I am trying to tell you is that you can also be spoiled with family. It's only work if you make it work. I did not have preconceived notions about you. I welcomed you into my house with open arms. I still do." She said. "I always will as long as you're with Junichi-kun." She said.

Junko sighed. "I can't wrestle you. There's a reason I was a manager. You have more experience than I could ever hope to have." Junko stepped forward. "But, there's a lot more to wrestling than being able to pull off moves your opponent can't. The Ice Dragons had an impossible title fight against the reigning champs, the Flying Pandas. They were a couple of Chinese girls who had mastered aerial and high risk maneuvers despite them not being built for it. Really, a formidable tag team and they had a deservedly long reign."

"The Ice dragons prepared for the hard fight and I made sure they were tagging in and out. Sustaining the onslaught of quick attacks like a break wall. They had to last through the first wave. Flying Pandas were known for their quick victories but eventually the Ice Dragons were able to catch one of their girls in a feint."

Junko reached out and took Taylor's arm. Hitomi was able to fake their girl into a flying double axe handle when the girl was over confident. And then she turned it against her." Junko would try and gracefully flip Taylor onto her back. "Once they could capitalize, they dragged the girl to their corner and wore her down with relentless holds, grapples and leg locks. They really took the wind out of the girls sails and drug the match out. it was basically two on one for the rest of the match and a powerful double figure four put the pandas out. They were both submitting at the same time. I couldn't believe it!"

Taylor was uneasy. She wasn't expecting a story. She felt like nothing she was saying made any sense, and that Junko was just going to think she was a stupid girl who always wanted to fight for as long as she knew her.

She knew the Flying Pandas match. She'd seen it. It made her uncomfortable, gave her the familiar sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. It started out so exciting, but as the Ice Dragons took control... it was just hard to watch so much double-teaming. It didn't seem fair. It didn't seem right. Taylor had to keep reminding herself to sit down, and that no one on the TV could hear her yelling at them.

Some of the same feeling came back as Junko told the story from their perspective. It made sense. It was the sort of strategy that made Taylor work hard to make sure she wouldn't fall to it.

Her chest rose and fell noticeably, she was breathing more heavily by the time Junko was done. She didn't share her triumph in her old war story, but instead she looked upset, maybe sick, with her jaw clenched and her eyes heavy.

And for all her stories and her talk about being welcomed into the family, Junko still hadn't seemed to bother to look at who Taylor actually was. She just didn't approve of her attitude. Taylor wasn't sure she approved of it either.

After a moment, Taylor spoke. "Neat."

She wondered what it was like to come up with the strategies and to stand outside the ring and watch the matches play out. It seemed to her that it dehumanized the people in the ring, her girls became only what they were capable of and the opponents were just possibilities to fear, bodies to break. It didn't seem right.

After a long pause, Taylor hesitantly added, quietly, "W-what happened to the Pandas?"

Junko frowned slightly at Taylor's words. She could see how tense the girl was and it made her uncomfortable. She didn't quite no why but she smiled and put a hand on Taylor's shoulder. "Well..." She said. "They got their belts back. In the rematch, the Ice Dragons weren't able to pull off their same tactic and the Pandas regained their title. The rubber match was the best of the three and we probably should have won, but the Pandas eeked out a victory against us. After that, no one wanted to see that rivalry anymore. Ironically enough, the Pandas lost their next defense against a true high flying team. They got out maneuvered and then after that... well, they went solo and never had much success afterwards. Every once in a while one of the Ice Dragons would fight them solo and they were always good matches but my girls almost always came out on top in solo competition."

Junko smiled. "Strategies are important, you know that. I know that's why you're trying out those impressive moves. Everything to get an advantage. Even the most noble fighters are foolish if they don't try and get an edge on their opponents. What kind of opponent do you like to face, Taylor-chan? What kind of opponent do you worry about?" She asked.