Idol Hands

]Mai Nagasawa had been wondering something ever since she had fought with the dreaded She-Beast known as Iron Maiden. Whether or not the girl was indeed targeting idols. She'd seen the recent interview with her manager and found it only strengthened her belief that the good doctor had some sort of bullseye on the backs of all the idols in the AFW. Mai felt it was her duty to stand up for any and all of her fellow idols. With that in mind she asked to be personally told the next time Iron Maiden was scheduled for a match.

It came much sooner than she thought and who was she up against? Not an idol but someone who was definitely a beauty in her own right. Now it was just a little bit before the match was about to kick off and Mai walked through the halls of the AFW facility. Ever since her match, she'd avoided coming to the facility unless she absolutely had to. The reason was obvious for anyone who saw her. She still wore a bulky looking bandage over her nose. Iron Maiden had crushed her face their and as an idol, it was a delicate thing to make sure that she wasn't superficially harmed. So she was taking no chances and right now she had to suffer with a silly and bulky looking bandage on her nose until she was certain that no permanent damage had been or would be done.

She got to Taylor's dressing room and inhaled deeply. She lifted her hand and gently knocked on the door. "Parker-san?" She called out, loud enough for Taylor to hopefully hear. "I hope I'm not disturbing you. I'd like to speak with you if possible."

"Uh?"

Taylor stirred slightly from her position sprawled out on her dressing room couch, her sweatshirt covering her like a blanket with the hood covering her eyes, roused by the knock at the door. She had been sound asleep for about a half hour, already dressed in her ring gear, and it took her a moment to reconcile if she'd dreamed that voice or not.

She struggled to pick herself up from her warm and fuzzy nap, and then finally she responded as eloquently as she could. "Uh... what?"

Her day had started early. She catapulted herself out of bed the moment her eyes opened and started the day with a long, leisurely jog. When she got back, Johnny was already cooking breakfast. She indulged her urge to try to squeeze him until he exploded and took a shower. She couldn't contain her excitement, she was practically bouncing off the walls, and as the day went on she didn't let up. Eventually, Johnny sat her down to watch a movie, probably just to shut her up.

"Ohh..." She quieted down for the movie, giving Johnny a much needed break. "Doesn't he look like you?" She said. "Little bit. Right? He's more girlie though." He sure was pretty, though.

She got to the arena early and put in a spirited warmup. She had no idea who her opponent was, and it didn't even bother her that Lukretia wouldn't tell her. It didn't matter who it was. No one could stop her. She turned up her music and bounced off the walls until finally, as per her pre match ritual, she fell fast asleep on the couch. It was always a good idea. It kept her from wearing herself out before the match even started.

She sat up. "You can come in and junk." She said to the door.

Mai smiled at the door while she waited patiently. She knew everyone had their thing before a match but she still felt rude interrupting. She frowned, however, when she heard soft rustling and groans. Maybe she should go? But the mecha neko felt like she needed to do this and when she was groggily commanded to enter, she sighed in relief and meekly pushed her way inside.

When she saw Taylor, she bowed low and formally. "Please excuse the interruption Parker-san. I am Nagasawa Mai. First off, I would like to congratulate you on your return and say I am honored to meet you."

Mai then smiled at Taylor. "I would not have disturbed you if I hadn't thought it most important to do so. I hope you can forgive me. I'm afraid I must intrude further upon you though, regrettably. There is a favor I wish to ask of you."

Taylor rubbed her eyes and stretched like a cat, and in walked a very well mannered fox-girl. "Oh, thanks," she said, and stood up. "I know you, though... kinda. You're um..." What was it? "Sakura, right?" She stretched her palms up toward the ceiling and slowly bent her body to one side, and then the other.

"Yeah, a'right. It's no problem or anything, I- what the hell happened to-" She caught herself. "Oh, sorry." Maybe don't point out that the girl with a giant, goofy looking bandage on her face has a giant, goofy looking bandage on her face. She knows, Taylor. She knows.

"Ask away, but I'm gonna be on in a little bit." She began bouncing in place, and very quickly shed her sleepiness as her energy returned.

"Nagasawa Mai." The idol said as she dipped her head politely with a quick bow. She didn't mean to wake the girl up. She blushed when Taylor blurted out about her nose and tried to cover it up. Mai lifted her hand up and gently touched the bandage. She flashed Taylor a coy smile.

"It's a good thing I don't need to rely on my looks to put food on the table, ne?" She quipped and made her hand into a gun, winked and pointed it at Taylor.

Mai then lowered her head and became more serious. "Actually, that's why I wanted to speak to you. It happened in my last match. Against your next opponent." Mai lifted her head back up and looked at Taylor. "She's dangerous. If she catches you, she won't let go" Mai then sighed. "But... I'm not trying to scare you or anything. You'll see what you're up against soon enough if you don't know already." Mai smiled. "There's something else I wanted to speak about regarding her. It's something that..." Mai frowned and lowered her head. "Something I feel ashamed to have to ask you the shoulder the burden of."

Mai then bowed deeply again, forming a right angle with her body.

"No, man, I mean on TV." Taylor said, more quietly. Akashi watched that show. About the little high school sumo girl wannabes and stuff.

"Really?" Now Taylor was intrigued. Who was this super dangerous mystery opponent? "Oh, don't worry, I'm not scared." She grinned, and bit her tongue at Mai.

She was almost a little annoyed by the constant bowing though. They were both wrestlers and everything, there was no reason for either of them to be bowing all the time. "C'mon, dude, stand up. It's cool, just say what you wanna say. I'm an American, remember, so you're not gonna, like, cock up my honor or something. Whatya got?"

Mai's cheeks flushed red when she realized that Taylor knew her. She straightened up and tried to replace. "Go men, Parker-san." She said. "As a Japanese woman, a high expectation is put on me to be exceptionally polite. But that aside, as an idol it's my duty to make sure that my fans are the ones treated as superstars."

Mai smiled. "But you're right. We're both wrestlers, co-workers, I'll try not to be so formal."

Mai shook her head. "Yes, why I came." She said."It does have to do with your opponent and the fact that I'm an idol. Her first match was against a team of idols. She destroyed three girls in one match. Then her next match was against me. I was honor bound to defend the idol name even if those other girls do taint it." Mai lowered her head.

"I won the match... but I failed my duty. I was beaten quite thoroughly as you can see. I was sure that this woman was targeting us for some reason though." Mai looked at Taylor with pleading eyes. "Well, I need you to do for me, for us, what I could not. I'm certain that you are already determined enough to win but... "

Mai clenched her fist. "I want you to give her one for us!" Mai said and then flashed a smile. "Besides." She began. "I've seen enough of you to know you have some idol in you." She said with a wink.

"Three girls?" Taylor echoed. Granted, if they were idols, Taylor could probably do that too, but still...

She gave Mai a cavalier grin and nodded. "Yeah, man. I'll take care of her for you. And... I'm not sure how to take that, but thanks, I think." She couldn't imagine what idol she saw in her. Taylor was the polar opposite of everything they stood for, she wasn't polite or kawaii and wasn't a pop singer or a fetish model or whatever the hell they did. They were like the cheerleaders, and just like high school, Taylor was not.

Her thoughts drifted back toward this mystery opponent of hers who apparently beat up every idol in the world at once. She moved to an open area in the room and began jumping, bringing her knees up to her chest each time, with enough height that she could nearly have jumped up onto her own shoulders. She flicked out a few punches, circled quickly, and leapt into a knee strike at an imaginary opponent. She felt good. Maybe even three girls at once good.

"So..." She said, as she bounced on the balls of her feet in a light and mobile stance, feinting this way and dodging this way, imagining her opponent's movements. "Who am I fighting?"

"It's your spirit, Parker-san." Mai said with a knowing smile before her face became grim. "Her name is Otome no Tetsu, Iron Maiden. She's a monster. I'll let you see for yourself when you face her. Attacks do nothing. My powerful kicks barely phased her."

Mai turned her head. "But she's like no oni. She can be beaten. I know you can beat her. They call her the She-Beast and she'sexactly that. SShe's mindless. She destroyed the Kawaii champion just for asking her a question." Mai looked at Taylor seriously. "She's controlled like a puppet. She has no wrestling skills. If you remember that... and, whatever you do, don't let her catch you, I think you stand a good chance."

"Well, you could probably destroy the Kawaii champ by asking a question." Taylor said. She'd had a match against Kagami before. It was so easy she felt bad about it.

"Iron Maiden?" She'd heard the name. She hadn't caught either of her matches, but she gathered that she was enormous. It made her think of Rebecca Tomko. Apparently, she'd get to test her giant-killing skills sooner than anticipated.

"No problem," she said. "She can't catch me, I'm too quick. And I do have skills. She'll go down like anyone else, I just might have to hit her a little harder, and a little more. I'll run circles around her, and look awesome doing it. How about I make her apologize for breaking your nose?" She gave Mai a winning smile and a wink.

She stretched down toward her toes and hugged her knees, so that her upper body was flat against her legs, and then sat down and spread her legs out to a near-split, and began stretching to one foot at a time.

"That's it, though? You just want me to beat her up? That's fine. What do you mean she's a puppet though?"