Fiery Hearts: Makie Akamatsu vs Mindy Priest

The crowds were energetic tonight as they lined the stands, murmuring and chatting to themselves as they waited for the action to start. Another Friction match was about to begin, and even with a massive event like Avalanche going on, people still payed eagerly to see the attractive ladies of AFW go at it in regular matches. Tonight, hopefully, was going to be another exciting display of talent in a one on one match.



"Lotus" by Dir en Grey began to play in the background, and the fans cheered as Makie Akamatsu suddenly burst into the arena. Wearing her standard outfit-- white sports bra and boyshorts with matching boots and pads-- the youngest of the Akamatsu Siblings nonetheless acted her usual, energetic self, clapping her fans and appreciatively cheering her fans back as she made her way down the ramp. Hi-fiving a few fans as she walked past, Makie quickly burst into a run, athletically backlipping up onto the ropes and pulling herself up into a seated position on one of the turnbuckles.

From this perch, Makie stared at the opposite corner of the arena, waiting to see who would come out to face her...

The not-so-distant roar of the crowd made Mindy's heart skip a beat. Waiting in the backstage for her cue, the tall girl could hear the cheers and calls coming from the arena, which made her somewhat tense; even though she had already performed in several matches in the AFW, the last minutes before a fight always made her belly feel all fluttery. For the umpteenth time, she looked at herself in the mirror, checking if her wrestling outfit was all right. She had to get mentally prepared for this match, in one way or another; she had heard that she was facing Kyo Akamatsu's sister, and she knew that if her opponent was as strong as Kyo she would need to bring her a-game tonight.

The loudspeakers boomed as they started playing "Oh! Muscles!!" by Shinsuke Kazato. It was now or never! Swallowing her nervousness, Mindy put a big smile on her face and stepped forward. She was wearing her usual attire: a white sports bra, a tight pair of orange and black shorts and fingerless gloves. The muscular girl was greeted with big cheers as she appeared on the entrance ramp. Their shouts filled her with strength, and she could already feel the blood pumping through her body in excitement. Waving back at the crowd, Mindy made her way down the ramp, grabbed the bottom ropes and hauled herself up onto the ring, finding out that her opponent was already sitting on a turnbuckle waiting for her. She looked at the Japanese girl curiously. "Hi, I'm Mindy. Let's have a good match!"

Even as the newcomer arrived, Makie was momentarily surprised. She had expected to be fighting someone in her own weight class-- someone whom she could fight on even terms, physically. But instead, her opponent was...well, a powerhouse, to put it mildly. The blonde-- whom the announcers named as 'Mindy Priest' was tall, fit, and very well muscled, and looked strong enough to snap Makie in two with one good bear hug or body scissor. Makie gulped, but willed herself to calm down. She had fought powerhouses like Nanako Jounichi before, she knew, and won. She could take this girl.

As Mindy stepped into the ring, she gave her a friendly greeting, no visible trace of malice or guile present on her expression-- she seemed good-natured and friendly. This close, the difference in power between the two of them was obvious, but Makie made no outward sign of fear as she smiled back at Mindy, hopped down from the turnbuckle and accepted her handshake.

"Nice to meet you too," she replied. "You look familiar, though. Did you fight my brother at all? Tall guy, dark hair, tattoo under his left shoulder, too modest for his own good?"

Mindy shook Makie's hand, noting that she looked pretty sure of herself; she didn't seem to be unfriendly at all, though. The girl bore some resemblance to her previous opponent - the black hair, the confident face, the toned physique... she was also smaller than the blonde, but that was no reason for Mindy to let her guard down. "Ah, Kyo? Yes, I fought him once. I gotta say, he was pretty strong! [size=85:1guruju1]I did end up losing, in the end, but..." As she tried to finish her sentence in a more confident note, a flash of inspiration ran through her mind. She grinned and put a hand on her hip, pointing at Makie. "... but tonight I'm ready to settle the score with the Akamatsu family!" Ah, that sounded cool! That OUGHT to have sounded cool, right? Apparently, the muscle girl hit the mark, and the crowd reacted to her boasting with another round of heated cheers.

Realizing that she had been holding her pose for a good six seconds, Mindy hastily put her hand down and stepped back. "A-Anyway, good luck!" She would then walk back to her side of the ring, waiting at her turnbuckle for the match to officially start.

Makie stared flatly at Mindy as the other girl held her pose awkwardly for a few seconds. "Uh-huh," she muttered Despite her obvious physical advantage, Mindy immediately came across to as a rookie, and a naive one at that. Makie gave a slow shrug as she rotated her shoulder blades and readied herself for the match. This shouldn't take too long, she decided, especially if Kyo had beaten her once already.

"Same to you!" Makie replied as she backed up to her own corner. Once there, she would let the ref girl check her over for weapons as she waited for the bell to ring...

Mindy did a few warming stretches, getting herself ready for the match. For some reason, she felt like someone had put a weight on her shoulders. Sure, with her simple-minded bravado, she now had a good portion of the audience on her side, but now that she had gone and said something so bold she'd BETTER win this match, or else! What if, in the end, she failed terribly and fell flat on her face? She would look so silly then... But she shook away all these anxious thoughts for now. This was not the right mindset to have while standing in the arena! "Just smile, smile...!," she said to herself as she finished her warmups, letting the referee check her.

DING DING DING! The match had started! Taking a last deep breath, Mindy moved towards the center of the ring, concentrating on the opponent before her. She didn't know how experienced Makie was, but she clearly had the upper hand when it came to size and build, so if - if - she played her cards right, she would soon have the upper hand! Right? With this in mind, the muscle girl stopped in the middle of the ring and raised her arms, inviting the Japanese for a test of strength.

The bell rang, and Makie sprang out of her corner, bouncing lightly on the soles of her feet as she circled Mindy. Her heart pounded with exhilaration, and she released all of her pent up excitement and eagerness as focused on her opponent.

Mindy was watching her warily, raising her arms for a test of strength. For a moment, Makie thought of humouring the the girl: she approached Mindy with her own arms raised, giving her an eager grin. "PSYCH!" she cried at the last minute, lashing out with a hard kick into Mindy's midsection. If this managed to stun the American, then then she would follow up by trying to nail Mindy with a drop kick to her chest or face. Even though she knew how hard it could be to a new girl, Makie knew better than to get into a test of strength with someone as well-muscled as her.

The two wrestlers circled each other as they got closer and closer, a tense moment before the fierce battle that was about to unfold. Mindy flexed her fingers in the air in preparation for the test of strength, following her opponent's hands with her eyes. If there was anything Mindy was proud of, it was her muscle power, so if Makie locked arms with her she was pretty confident that she would win the resulting struggle. And, much to her delight, it looked like the Japanese had accepted her challenge.

However, when their palms were only inches away from each other, Makie let out a sudden yell that startled the muscle girl. Mindy had been paying too much attention to Makie's upper body, so she didn't see her kick coming until it was too late... a rookie mistake! "Gah!" The foot hammered into her abs, making her stagger a step back. Clutching her midsection with one hand, Mindy forced her eyes open and looked at Makie - just to see a pair of boots flying directly towards her face. Her head was knocked back with the impact, and the momentum of the drop kick sent her hurtling to the mat. "Ouch..." She propped herself up to a seating position, massaging her nose and trying to figure out just what had happened to her.

Makie's quick attack was a success, taking the larger rookie completely by surprise and flooring her before she could even react. Even as Mindy crashed to the mat, though, she was already propping herself back up to a seated position. Makie knew she couldn't afford to give her any time to recover.

Hopping back to her feet, Makie grabbed a hold of Mindy's arm. "Up you go," she huffed, trying to drag Mindy up to her feet and whip her to the ropes in a single quick motion. If she managed this, then she would run up to intercept Mindy the moment she came running back with another drop kick, aiming to floor the buxom American once again and leave her nice and stunned. "HYAAA!"

Shaking off her daze, Mindy was about to get up and fight again - but Makie was quicker and flung her to the ropes in an irish whip. Despite her top physical condition, the American was kind of slow, so agile speedsters like Makie were exactly the kind of foe she had the most trouble against. She turned around as she bounced against the ropes, deciding to strike back when they came close to each other again, but when she ran towards Makie the girl she simply jumped up for yet another drop kick, giving the American no good target to attack. Once more, she was hit square in the face and fell back to the mat with a stinging forehead.

"Ugh... stop kicking my face!," she complained in an annoyed tone. She couldn't let Makie throw her around like this! This time, though, she couldn't sit up right away, as she needed more time to recover from the repeated blows.