The Air Raid Siren vs. Songbird

The Friction ring was being prepared for another matchup. This time, it's a rookie pitted against a veteran. As always, it will be intimidating, but only one can come out on top.

Then, a loud screech filled the entire stadium and the fans who heard this sound before knew who was coming in. Suddenly, an explosion of black smoke came from 5 feet close to the ring, covering up to the sides where the audience was. Once it was clear, Paramore's "That's What You Get" began to play and there stood a girl with pink and white hair. Her clothing consisted of a dark shining pink sleeveless zippered suit with the collars covering the bottom of her face, long black fingerless gloves, and black army boots.

She started to walk with a serious look in her eyes and her fans could see that as she was beautiful, she's also quite lethal. Then she jumped and kept her balance on the top rope before doing a double axle into the ring. She slowly stood up as she unzipped her gag just to screech out loud to live up to her name.

As the opening of her entrance theme began, Gemma Faraday burst out onto the entrance ramp. Fist raised, poised and confident, she took in her first moments on an AFW ramp. An curvy-yet-fit young woman decked out in steampunk-styled ring gear, Gemma beamed from underneath her platinum-blond locks. Looking out into the AFW arena, she felt an immediate and desperate need to hide her shock.

Gemma was experienced enough on the small indie circuit, but her usual crowds were small, boardwalk audiences. Her eyes widened as she took in the exponentially larger audience. Still, Gemma knew the danger of letting herself get intimidated already; she made her way down to the ring with long and confident strides, greeting the audience with a confident smirk she prayed was convincing.

At the ring apron, Gemma wiped her feet respectfully while adjusting the straps on her arms and around her ribs. Gemma made her way into the ring by jumping onto the turnbuckle and raising a first to the crowd enthusiastically, before bouncing down to the mat. She nodded respectfully to her opponent and made certain that her goggles were firmly affixed to her head. Gemma bit her lip, hoping to convince herself she'd be ready for this.

Songbird would see her opponent coming by and she was quite intrigued by her steam punk attire. She would walk over to her and said, "Hi, you must be new here. I'm Songbird and you are?" She offered a hand in greeting.

Gemma couldn't help but wince a little bit, when her opponent approached her. Was her 'newbishness' that obvious, she wondered? She squared her jaw, squared her shoulders and puffed her chest, a bit, trying to put up a tough front. "Gemma Faraday, love," she smiled, giving Songbird's extended hand a firm shake. "Maybe you've heard of me. I'm kind of a big deal, in the UK indies." She tossed her head, letting a platinum lock flip over her face. As the new girl, Gemma was affecting a pretty cocky attitude, hoping that it would help her to have a bit of a leg up, when the match actually started ...

Songbird would put some thought before answering. "Well, I read a little bit of your profile and you being a big shot is hat I only read. In order to have a story check out, it needs to be proven. I hope you brought your game because I have had some experience with top fighters a lot like you."

While she couldn't quite shake the nagging feeling she was biting off more than she could chew, Gemma decided to run with the bravado. This girl looked pretty serious, and it probably wasn't smart to antagonize her too much. If nothing else, though, it was helping settle Gemma's nerves over this huge crowd ...

"Well, cupcake, hope you're looking forward to heading to school, tonight, because you're in store for a lesson in the classics, " Gemma said with a grin. With that, she turned on her heel, and gave Songbird some distance while waiting for the bell. Feeling a bit impish, she decided to play to the crowd by raising her hands and setting her feet apart in the stance of an 'old-timey' boxer.

"School? Shouldn't you need to call my folks first for admission?" Songbird would keep her distance and start stretching out her body. She had to be as flexible as possible before the match begins.

"Oh, that's quite alright," Gemma said, continuing to caper about, a little bit. It was helping her to limber up, for what was ahead, while also helping her to work out some nervous energy. "It'll be easier to just call them up when I ask for forgiveness, when all of this is over."

Gemma nodded to the referee, to signal that she was ready. While her manner and body language were flippant and fluid, some of her underlying tension was creeping to the surface. Her capering was getting some laughs from the crowd; however, her brow was furrowed from concentration, her muscles were tight from tension, and Gemma was aching to start this match. Moreover, she was ready to prove that she was ready to compete in the big leagues ...

When the bell actually rang, a tiny cry of shock got caught in her throat.

Songbird heard the starting signal and she would walk to Gemma in her fighting stance. She then froze awkwardly when Gemma let out a tiny cry of shock. "What's wrong? That's only the bell. We have to begin right away, now don't worry about anything else."

Songbird got to the center to invite Gemma for a lockup.

Gemma flushed a bit red, having been called out on letting the ring bell startle her. "Yes, love, that's a ring bell," she replied, smirking. "The next time you hear it's going to be after I've pinned that cute little bum of yours on the mat." When all else fails, Gemma told herself, keep snarking. She knew Songbird's advice was solid, however: Gemma was already letting the pressure get to her too much. She was acting like an utter amateur, and she was nearly kicking herself for it. She had so much riding on this, on the 'big debut match' she'd been psyching herself up for, that she was actually working against herself. Gemma's chest rose and fell, as she took deep and steady breaths to try and get her nerves under control.

Biting her lip slightly, Gemma quickly approached Songbird, and committed herself to the lockup request. She get in tight and low, hoping that a lower center of gravity would give her the best leverage. She had been assuming that Songbird wasn't going to be too terribly strong, just from her slight frame, but now Gemma found herself worrying that she'd been severely underestimating her opponent.