SS 18 Entropy Title: Valley Doll (c) versus Manami Kuroda (Iron Man Match)

There was a part of her - a darker, deeper, more primal part - that took some satisfaction in seeing the blood come from Manami’s mouth. She couldn’t tell exactly why she was bleeding, could’ve been any number of things, but it was nice to have that equalizer between them. She couldn’t have first blood, but second wasn’t the worst thing, was it? Share that taste in their mouth.

She didn’t like that feeling, didn’t like reveling in the blood. It was far too close to the tastes of the woman she was fighting. Now, the sound of her kick colliding with Manami’s spine? That she could enjoy.

It was a loud, crisp sound, and the closest thing Valley could compare it to was the crack of a whip meeting its mark. It certainly was a good start and a strong sign that she was on the right foot with this - from now on, her focus was on Manami’s back. That was the target.

Valley’s arm problems were a dilemma, but she could work around them to an extent. Back pains? Those were a different beast. Harder to defend against, and they made even the simple act of standing up a chore. With time ticking away, it was the only choice.

So, when Manami shot that hateful eye her way, Valley didn’t waste time throwing a retort back. Didn’t care what she was going to say, really.

Valley was too busy leaping up into the air and driving her heels into Manami’s back with a double stomp, one meant to drill her right into the spine. And maybe crush the hand that was covering it at the moment, for a little bonus.

Why was she still on the ground? She’d suffered worse injuries, been through tougher scrapes with larger, burlier opponents than this. It could have been a number of things. She’d taken some hard shots over the course of this match, ones that may have been coming back to haunt her, new attacks reopening old wounds. This was also far and away the longest fight she’d been in, perhaps in her entire life, so there was an unexpected amount of fatigue finally starting to set in.

But above all, it had to be Valley’s persistence. She moved despite her injuries and not because of them, keeping her movements sharp the whole way. She laced in and was determined to not give her adversary so much as an inch to work with. A wise strategy, if the look the Wolf Girl was throwing her way was any indication of the hell awaiting her when she did.

That silent threat may have had more of an impact, however, if Manami could find the power to stand up. Her body refused to move at the pace she wanted it to, shaking up and down as she made the effort to rise. Rather infuriating, that.

It was only made all the worse when she realized she inadvertently made Valley’s task all the easier, exposing her back to a brutal stomp. She fell right back to the ground, crashing on her stomach, coughing out a light spray of blood to the canvas as her lungs suffered part of the impact. Her back flared with pain, her hand suffered a bit of the impact, getting caught and scraped beneath Valley’s boot like a rug burn.

That was enough. She had to get away from this. In a rather demeaning but necessary action, Manami began to roll away, retreating towards the ropes and rolling herself outside of the ring. Ideally, it fixed two problems at once: she’d escape Valley’s kicks and she’d be back on her feet without actually needed to push herself up. Ideally.

Valley’s double stomp hit home hard, and the beauty of it was that it didn’t take too much energy to pull off. While she wasn’t a heavy woman by any stretch of the imagination, her weight was more than enough to do damage when it was all focused in one spot, coming down like a drill, driving straight into the small of Manami’s back.

It was inelegant, brutal, simple - pretty much the antithesis of everything Valley stood for in a wrestling ring, but it was also low-energy and effective. Right now, that was the port she had to go in the middle of the storm.

It was a sloppy sort of hit, though, and it had a sloppy result, as Valley couldn’t keep her footing after the impact. She flopped down to her butt, stunned for a moment, and that moment was more than enough time for Manami to roll out of the ring.

”Nonono-” Valley scrambled after her, but she was already under the ropes before she could get halfway. She made it under, to safety, and the referee started to count.This left Valley with a few options.

She could just see if Manami wouldn’t be able to beat the count, but that was a slim chance. Valley had gotten the better of her, but it was really just a flurry. Ten seconds of recovery time would be enough for her to get back in without much trouble, and she’d be fresher and harder to deal with. And pissed off.

She could go after Manami, but she’d likely have to brawl on the floor with her, and that would waste time. Time she didn’t have to waste, not anymore.

Or…or…

Valley pounded her fist into the mat, knowing what she had to do, what every bone in her wrestling body called for. It wouldn’t be pretty. Wouldn’t be easy. It was risky, and she wasn’t even sure if she could pull it off in her current state. But she was Valley Doll, and certain things came with that.

It was time to fly.

She stood up and, to the crowd’s confusion, ran over to the far corner of the ring away from Manami. She turned and hit the turnbuckle pads, then bounced off and sprinted forward, dashing across the ring at full speed. Instead of going towards her opponent, however, she ran to the opposite corner and leaped up, planting one foot on the middle pad to scale her way to the top in an instant. She stood on the top pad, balanced for only a second, before she jumped up and turned her back towards Manami below.

From there, it was all reflexive. She did the calculations in her head, then threw her body into a backflip off the turnbuckle, dedicating herself - her body, her future, her entire being - into a Golden Triangle Moonsault, coming down on Manami from well over ten feet high.

Someone out there was telling her off. A little pile of nothing who sounded like a girl but, if she remembered the demographic of Friction’s fanbase correctly, she could have been easily mistaken. Something about not being “big and bad”, running away from “real champ”. Easy to assume he was in Valley’s camp. The instant she landed, she made a quick scan of the audience and narrowed down every face she saw. She’d have to track down a few of them after this was all over.

Though glorious end she was looking for was slipping away at a rather alarming pace. Valley had seized her second wind magnificently and turned the tables rather suddenly. She wasn’t flamboyant about it either. She was being quick, brutal, efficient. Exactly the way Manami would have done things, and that was dangerous.

Hence the reason she was outside of the ring, recovering with every second she could buy. Her body was heavy, her back not exactly in the mood to allow her to remain perfectly upright, but she managed it with some effort. Her rage redoubled at the pain and focused back on the cause of it, shifting Manami’s head toward the Californian who was...charging straight at her. Let it be written, there was no stopping this woman.

Manami was anticipating a dive kick, something fast to nail her before. She crouched herself, low, feeling that lethal smirk growing on her lips once again as Valley approached, unknowingly dashing herself towards the wolf’s trap...but didn’t. She ran off the beaten path and scaled the nearest post as if her birdbrain had manifested on a more literal sense than Manami had even anticipa-

Oh.

“You are fucking kid-”

The rest of that sentence would be forever lost to history, scattered to the wind like the setting sun. It wouldn’t even be retained within Manami’s memory. It vanished like the last few seconds of her life before her eyes slowly fluttered open and found herself on the ground, nigh motionless and completely dazed. Her body failed to respond to the simplest of commands, and for a while, the overwhelming force the Slamazon had struck her with seemed to have dashed all awareness of the match from her brain altogether.

Valley was hurting in just about every way she knew how to hurt. There was her arm, of course, a lingering mass of pain that was probably going to feel that way for the next week or so, and she was not looking forward to the X-Ray results. But her back was hurting, still coming off that nasty lungblower she’d taken. Her face was numb, and her nose was a mess, still dripping blood no matter how many times she wiped, so much that a keen eye could probably trace her path around the ring. Oh, and she had a headache, to top it all off. At least, she hoped it was just a headache.

But, depsite all that, in the second where she flew through the air, she felt like a goddess. Alive. Free. Soaring. It was the most amazing feeling, that weightlessness, and it alway came to her so naturally. She was born to fly, arching through the air, her hair flying about, wild and loose.

But what comes up must come down, and even though she was going to come down on Manami, there was no getting around a simple fact: the fall was going to suck

And it did. It sucked hard. She managed avoid landing on her bad arm, that was nice, but it was hell for her chest and stomach. Manami made for a softer landing pad than a bar floor, but not by much, and the end result had Valley clutching her chest and spitting out blood and groaning about the outside of the ring.

But she was awake. Hurting, but awake. It didn’t seem like the same could be said for Manami, not for the moment. The Wolf Girl was down and not getting up...which was a problem, because Valley kind of needed her up.

”Damnitdamnitdamnit-” Determined, she crawled over on her hands and knees, getting close to Manami and grabbing her by the hair. She forced the limp woman to sit up, then ducked in and got her shoulders under the woman’s stomach. From there, she summoned every ounce of power that her legs had to offer and stood up, hauling Manami up with a half-assed fireman’s carry. It was a wibbly wobbly affair, and she nearly fell twice with it, but she managed to make it long enough to complete a three step journey, back to the ring.

She dumped Manami back in the ring, crawled in after her, and promptly rolled her opponent on her back. Valley pressed their chests together, secured a leg, and went for the pinfall, hoping that would be enough to get the job done. ”Stay down you crazy, smelly…”

The referee didn’t waste a second, dropping down to start the count back up. ”1…!”

Manami was actually dreading the fact that she was getting used to this feeling. This almost abstract disconnection from the rest of her body while her mind was left to struggle and scream on the inside, fighting to retain even the slightest bit of control over herself. It was a feeling that she found herself subject to one time more than she’d prefer this night, but that's what she deserved, she supposed, for underestimating Valley Doll.

Oh Dear God, she actually just said that.

Well, thought it more like. Her motor functions were still very much out of commission for the most part. She still felt restrained to the ground by a giant anchor wrapped around her head, pulling her down and doing little for the throbbing headache that was keeping her awake. She stirred only a little, and by the time she opened her eyes, she was off the ground.

Before she could believe her ascension had finally come, she looked down only find the faux angel of this pathetic ring hoisting her up. The moments came through a vivid darkness as the Wolf Girl blinked in and out. One moment she was nearing the ring, the next she was on the canvas looking up at the ceiling, the next she felt a weight on her modest chest and felt a firm slap beside her head.

“TWO!”

That brought a struggle very quickly. Her muscles tensed and slackened involuntarily, her body moving on pure instinct in an attempt to break the position as quickly as she could. Wasn’t going to happen, though. Her movements were too small and too labored. If she had at least one more second to spare, she may have been able to scrape together enough energy to force some kind of break. It wasn’t even a terribly complex pin. Well....

“THREE! Valley Doll is awarded a point by pinfall!”

...everything spoke for itself. The crowd broke out into a round of cheers, stronger and with more vigor than last time, evidently with Valley’s side regaining a fair amount of confidence. Manami’s supporters put in their own two cents on her behalf, but if she even had an ounce of gratitude to show to those blind fools, she didn’t project it. Her gaze remained fixed to the ceiling, looking past Valley in a silent, suspended state of either restrained anger or stupified disbelief. Either way, she didn’t have the breath to waste on insults this time around.

No. She needed to start applying method to instruction.

There was a second, a frightful second, where Valley could feel Manami’s rumbling, and she feared that the worst was going to come to pass. The woman was going to burst her way up, and Valley wouldn’t have the energy left to put her back down again. Nevermind the time issue on top of it - it was rapidly getting to the point where she would’ve had trouble scoring a pinfall or submission in a regular match, and that was not the place she wanted to be with two points left to go.

But it worked. Thank God, it worked, and the point was hers. One down, one to go.

She dropped Manami’s leg and flopped back, taking the moment to breath, as brief as it would be. She was firmly in the jazz territory now, making up things on the fly, but there was some glimmer of hope. She’d put down the Wolf twice now, she could squeeze out one more. Just one more.

Valley grunted and rolled off Manami after a moment, then rolled again before she tried to stand up. She didn’t say anything, didn’t need to. She could take a fairly good guess what was going through Manami’s mind right now, all the hate she was harboring. The woman would be coming for blood, seizing on every opportunity. No more playing, no holding back, no taunting. From now on, it was just going to be pure violence.

She was ready. That was what she told herself as she made her way back to the corner, and waited for Manami to do the same. As soon as she did, the bell would ring, and they could get back to shortening each other’s lifespans.

Manami honestly didn’t care that she was still ahead by one. She didn’t care that Valley had likely tired herself out with that grandiose display of hers. She didn’t even care about winning this match, because one vital question still lingered in the air, one that could unravel everything she’d been working towards:

Who was the better woman?

That was the question that plagued her mind as Manami sucked in a bit of air, pushed herself upright, and slowly stepped her way into her corner. She didn’t face her opponent like last time, not look out at the audience staring back at them. She gripped the ropes and leaned into her corner, her grip shaking them up and down as she tightened her fingers and pumped all the distractions into them. She flooded the clouds from her mind and down her arms as they flexed, trailing them into her hands to burn away in the friction she created within her palms. Her eyes remained shut, tight enough to deny her pupils even the slightest touch of the stagnant air permeating the arena.

Destroy more. Fight more. Kill more. Exist to vanquish your enemies. The mantra clocked in out and out of her mind like a metronome, ticking away in the darkest recess of her mind that twisted and wrenched like a temporal abyss fracturing her very humanity into, leaving a beat born from disdain, cruelty, and-

The bell rang.

Manami’s eyes flashed open as she stood up, turning around in her corner and made her way to the center with her mind afresh. The same couldn’t be said for her body. Her body still staggered behind, her back struggled to keep her upright, her movements wouldn’t be quite as sharp any longer...but none of that mattered. Valley was just across from her, just standing there, so full of resolve and hope. That was mattered. That was what had to go away.

She circled around the woman over the Friction logo, keeping her arms slightly raised in front of her and her eyes affixed to the bluer pair across from her. Then, she lunged in, going to grapple close with Valley in a collar and elbow tie-up, trying to capitalize on the one weakness she knew was still there: her arm.

As Valley stared back at Manami from the other end of the ring, she couldn’t help but wonder a few things. Namely, what was this woman’s deal? All this time, all the pain they’d caused each other and still had to inflict, and she really didn’t know much about her at all. Valley was an open book, her life chronicled on Wikipedia and Youtube videos, but when she’d tried to look into the Wolf Girl’s past, it hadn’t been too deep. Nothing to explain how anyone could wind up like this, anyway.

Did something happen to her? Something she went through, something she saw that just broke her? Did she just have a thing for wolves that went way, way too off the rails? Was she born broken and only got worse with time?

Valley didn’t know, couldn’t know, and when the bell rang, it didn’t matter. She was an obstacle, and it was time for her to either jump over that obstacle or bring it crashing down.

She came out and moved with Manami, circling and keeping at her pace, trying to figure out what the next move would be. She’d still be going after the arm, Valley doubted she would give that up, but she wasn’t sure on just how, and the answer wound up surprising her.

The collar-and-elbow took her off guard, no small feat considering how often she saw it. Didn't seem like Manami’s bread and butter, but that didn’t stop her from being effective with, not in the least thanks to Valley’s weakened arm. Barely able to hold the grapple at all, the Slamazon was forced back, with the corner closing in quick.

That didn’t mean she was out of options, though, and she went with a simple one. When they were at the right distance, Valley threw herself to the side, breaking out of the grapple. At the same time, she tried to get her legs around Manami’s shin and twist to the side, aiming to make her fall to towards the corner with a drop toehold.

Though it was somewhat outside her area of expertise, Manami was familiar enough with this particular grapple to grasp the basics. There were likely better moves to go for, something more within her domain, but there was some method to her madness.

She couldn't outmaneuver Valley. She’d accepted that and had to adjust accordingly, but by the same measure, Valley couldn't overpower her. Manami very much invited her to try and suffer a repeat of history, but that would be wishful thinking. It was better to play to her strengths, her literal strength, and keep a hold on her adversary. Maintain complete control over her. Tear the champion down inch by inch, bit by bit, limb by limb.

But she needed her in the corner for that. A task that didn't appear to be too much trouble from the outset.

Manami pumped whatever power she could spare into the push. She didn't feel it necessary to overexert herself in such a brazen attempt, and it seemed to work in her favor all the same. Step by step, she pushed the Slamazon back, building her momentum steadily as the woman’s back approached it's inevitable collision. Manami's eyes kept forward, keeping focus on her goal.

Unfortunately, her attention would have been better served elsewhere.

Valley dropped and, for quite a while during and some time after, Manami wouldn't be entirely sure of what it was. In one swift movement, she found herself careening towards the ringpost. Her face smashed against the bottom turnbuckle, leaving her on her stomach and dazed. A flattering look, to be sure.