One foot in the Grave (For Berial)

Maria:

Elsa Winters:

"Keep your guard up!!"

Maria gave a small huff, her arms bulging as she struggled to force Elsa back, "You are focusing too much on just punching. It works all well and good in boxing, but when your opponent can kick you or choke you, you fall to pieces." she pointed out, her kickpad slamming into Elsa's exposed thigh with a hard slap, forcing the taller woman back! Pushing her back, Maria bounced off the ropes, dashing forward to nail her student in the chest with a graceful dropkick! The impact flattened Elsa, leaving the toned woman wide eyed and stunned!

Taking a breath, the luchadora kipped back up to her feet, "There's more to lucha libre than raw power." she advised, reaching down to take her ward's hand and tug her to her feet, "I have struggled against bigger opponents too...but you have to work SMARTER. Even if it means discarding your usual tactics."

Remy really should have been working out more than she was.

Setting up a second life on the other side of the world in a country full of people that didn’t speak her language or make her kind of maple syrup was only about half as exhausting as getting onto the AFW roster. For other people, it might have been a work in the park. But Remy had the privilege of having a championship belt and a long career with an equally large company. A far cry from the usual amateur that was looking to go pro.

After two solid weeks of figuring all of that crap out, she was finally in AFW with all the Friction perks. Now if only she had a match to go with them. The Canadian was plenty upfront about what she wanted for those two weeks management had her on call. It would take some time, maybe a change in the seasons, but her contract assured her that it would happen eventually: Remy wanted a Wrestle Angel, she would get a Wrestle Angel.

Until then, she was hitting the free weights. The blonde powerhouse almost forgot how much she’d missed an old fashioned bench press. She’d only been shown the gym yesterday and already was a little overwhelmed with more than half the machinery. Japan just seemed to love its touch screens. Thankfully it wasn’t too hard to find an old-fashioned metal bar that wasn’t being used. It took a second to find the compression shorts and red sports bra amongst all the other move-in stuff for her locker, but as soon as she had them on it was right to training. AFW had plenty of veterans after all.

Loud ones, too. She stopped mid-extension and looked between her arms to the practice bout inside of the ring. The two of them couldn’t have looked less related if they tried, so purely a student-teacher pairing if Remy had to guess. Though as much as the brunette liked to point out flaws, Remy couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen such a crap dropkick like the one she’d put that chick down with. She scoffed and went back to her sets.

“Christ Almighty. My uncle Rog’ has better form than that.” She said not quite to herself.

Maria's ears perked up at the snide remark coming from behind them, even as she helped Elsa to her feet. Spinning on the spot, the luchadora's silver eyes flashed as she made contact with Remy.

Had this woman made such a remark when she was tearing through Mexico's promotions, she would have put her down without a second thought. Her sister Isabella would certainly still do that to this day, had she been in the room. Instead, she took a breath, walking over to the ropes and leaning on them with a frown, "Perhaps then miss...you will need to have your eyes examined. At the very least let me instruct my students in the manner that I see fit. A reasonable request wouldn't you agree?" she asked, keeping a lid on her anger. She had no idea who this woman was, but she was in no mood to be insulted.

"Whatever you say, granny!" Remy called back without missing a beat in her set.

It was actually pretty funny to her that people came to this place from around the world just to teach people how to lose. Remy felt a bit sorry for that silver-haired chick she was buttering up. Didn't seem like she had much to work with from the outset and here was Ms. Luchador to double down on the suck. She'd seen this song and dance before when she was the top of IWWF. A year ago, she would have had plenty more to say about chumps running around her federation.

Now? She just wanted to finish this workout and maybe catch Korean-brand drama that always played at 5 o'clock. But Ms. Matador just wanted to look at her with that senior-moment death stare. Cool. Remy threw the barbell up for the fiftieth time and held it, letting her eyes lock back to the women in the ring.

"If you wanna show rookies how to get messed up: day one, that's your business. I'm here to wrestle. Maybe look it up sometime, eh?"

Maria was more than annoyed at this point. Sliding under the ropes, the luchadora marched up to the woman, who was currently doing work at the barbells. Regardless of the difference in size and build, Maria was not one to let someone insult her family legacy and walk away unscathed.

"I AM here to wrestle. I won more titles than you probably even TOUCHED. My family brought Lucha Libre to prominence again. We take this sport seriously senorita.... I am here to help guide them, as I was hired to do. SO it would be most kind of you to NOT tell me how to do my job, or I will leave you on your back before you can even SAY sorry." she spit out at her, far more incensed than she usually would be in a confrontation.

Heels she could take, but when someone tried to discredit her honor.....that's where the games stopped.

Oh, good. Now Ms. Mariachi was in her light. Remy seriously missed being a champion sometimes. As much as she didn’t miss the contract work, the non-stop fanfare, but she had to admit that the respect had its perks. People didn’t just come up and bother her in those days. There was a mutual understanding of the pecking order in America and how to work their way up.

AFW had this weird idea they slipped into their talent’s heads that anyone could be a hero these days. There was just no respect for what it took to work your way up.

Remy set the bar back on its stand and locked eyes with the woman looking down at her. She kept them there the whole way she sat up and turned to stand from her seat, meeting the Reaper face to face.

“And how ya gonna do that, eh?” Remy looked the woman straight in those brown eyes with a fiery gaze. They were practically the same height, yet the difference between the Canadian monster’s bulky frame and the challenger’s slimmer, refined counterpart seemed to add another dimension to the tension straining between them.

Maria finally managed to get a good look at her, and she would be lying if she didn't feel the tiniest twinge of doubt. She had been against a myriad of opponents in her lengthy career through Mexico. Some speedy lightweights that managed to keep pace with her for 30 minute classics, and some heavyweights that either took forever to bring down, or pinned Maria with their devastating slams in less than 10 minutes! Even a veteran like her wasn't immune to the dreaded squash match.

Her silver eyes glared right at Remy, not giving any ground, "By beating you, and anyone else who makes the mistake of thinking me an easy target. You insult me, you insult my family legacy.....not something I take lightly." she hissed, hand twitching with the urge to smack that smug little smile off her face.

Did this chick just threaten her? That was kind of hilarious.

Today was upper body day. Remy had to swing by the dip station and get her hammer curls in before she was done, then do her stretches to work out the cramps, take a light walk, then shower and head home. But you see, this was what she loved about having a career in pro-wrestling. At the drop of a hat, the routine could go right out the window. Leaving America had to be the best decision she’d ever made. In a new league, she had a clean slate. Nobody was too afraid to step up.

Remy leaned in and crossed her muscular arms as she leered at the slightly smaller woman in front of her, taking a wandering eye down the length of her body for a hot second. As much as the Canadian loved to poke fun, her prospective opponent was pretty put together. Fit and well-balanced, clearly an agile competitor. Could be a bit of fun.

“Well then take your best shot, Mamacita." Remy nodded over Maria’s shoulder, painting her intentions across her face with that ever permanent grin across her face. "You took the only ring. Maybe you wanna actually wrestle in it?”

Maria jerked her head back, marching to the ring without a word. The meaning was clear enough. If Remy wanted to insult her, it would be at her own peril. Maria wouldn't be held responsible if the Canadian was beaten to a pulp in the middle of the ring. She picked this fight, so she had to live with the consequences.

Elsa cleared out right away, never having seen her trainer be so incensed. Probably not a good idea to hang around her if fireworks were about to go off. She gulped as Maria tightened her mask, checking over herself to make sure her training gear was in place.

"Well? You gonna stand there and stare or are you actually going to fight?!" she yelled at Remy, fist's clenched.

Did Remy have second thoughts about this? Hell frickin’ no!

This was the thing about people like Ms. Luchadora here. Pro-wrestling wasn’t about family heritage, or birthrights, or any of that crap. The only thing that counted was whether or not you had the guts to last. They let their feelings and their pride get in the way of the real picture. It was like they were asking Remy to knock them down a peg, or several. Her future opponent had bark, but Remy needed to see some of that bite before she earned a change of opinion.

Maria was clearly eager to go and pumped with adrenaline, as if the two of them were actually between the ropes smacked in the middle of primetime. Remy wasn’t walking that little line with her. After she stepped into the ring, the Canadian simply stretched her arms above her head and made her way to the opposite corner. Draping her arms over the top ropes, the heavyweight leaned back and crossed one leg over the other. Completely open and almost looking half-asleep if it weren’t for that fiery gaze in her blazing blue eyes. The ferocious blonde beckoned her forward with a wave of her hand.

“Ding, ding.”