Kei vs. Raiden: The Jobber's Debut

Everything happened in such a blur after that lariat. Kei was good at this, too good for Raiden to even compare. In one moment, he was staring at the lights, barely even able to see straight. In the next moment, he could feel her arm around his head, as if setting him up for a DDT, and even at that moment, he knew that he was done for. But then the room began to spin until he was facing down, and he fully understood how fucked he was.

BAM.

He slammed his head against the mat, nearly knocking him out! He barely even heard as the referee came over to start counting out the pinfall, could barely even feel Kei holding his leg and cover him. "ONE!" He was done, practically out like a light. His vision was swimming, his muscles hurt, and he could feel pain emanating from every single piece of his body. "TWO!" His head was probably the worst off; a headache was the least of his worries.

"THREE!"

Following the three count was the sound of the bell. It was a welcomed sound and it helped her settle, not that she was feeling tense or really worked up, but she was a competitive person and the win eased her competitiveness for the time being. After having her arm raised she moved around the ring, playing to the crowd's reaction to the outcome of the match. She turned to leave when she stopped and took a look at Raiden.

He didn't appear to be dead or anything like that, but from the looks of it he might be there for a bit. She's been on the receiving ends of moves like this before so she has an idea of what he's feeling right about now. She hoped that he would be alright and be able to fight another day. She flashed a small grin while telling herself 'I hate to admit it but he looks kinda cute like this. Not as cute as Wes but still' before looking serious again for a moment. She folded her arms in front of her and giving him a small bow before backing up towards the ropes and flipping herself over them and landing on the floor. She had the intent of checking up on him later, but would wait a while for to do just that, figuring he might want some time to make his head cease spinning.

As she headed back up the runway she wondered how long in it would until her next fight here. She had a ton of stuff to do to keep herself busy and productive, but it wasn't the same. She posed to the crowd one more time, giving them a tiny thank you wave before disappearing through the curtain.

It took a few moments for Raiden to realize that the match was over and done for. It took a few more moments for the world to stop spinning so he could get off the ring. He gave a soft groan as he stood up, his head threatening to make everything spin again and to make him want to get sick. But he couldn't let himself, not in front of his audience. He bit his lower lip as he moved toward the ropes and out of the ring, plopping down onto the concrete with a soft grunt.

That was a hell of a first match. Though a piece of him knew that she was just more skilled than him and that it was probably going to end up like that no matter what, he couldn't help but get angry at himself for letting things get that bad. It was like he was just back in the other federations, jobbing it up -- even though he wasn't the jobber in this match, because he still managed to get a few holds in. No, considering his past, this was actually a fairly good debut, considering his own past and especially considering how skilled Kei was. But it didn't matter; he had been relying so much on the fact that this would be a new start to his career, to being seen as something more than the jobber…

When he got backstage and into the locker room, he slammed his foot against the lockers with a soft yell. "Kuso!" he cursed, moving to punch the locker harshly. Of course, all he got in return was a fist that ached.

After having some time to herself to unwind she was about to take a shower when she got the thought to check up on him. She did intend on doing that but originally figured she'd do it later. Now seemed like a good time though, who knows maybe he was looking to leave quickly. She left the room she was in and went to find him. Her search wasn't a long on and she gave the door a small tap before peaking in. "Raiden? You in here?" She entered slowly, not wanting to startle him nor come across as threatening. "Just came to see how you're doing. You alright?"

It was with a start that Raiden looked up at the woman who had just beaten him in the ring -- and badly, in his opinion. He bit back a nasty retort, knowing it wasn't her fault that he lost. She was just better, and he just wasn't good. No wonder he ended up the jobber in those leagues. It was a circle of thoughts like these that kept him stuck, trapped in his own head, until he finally looked up and registered what she was saying.

"Hm…? Yes, I am fine. You are a very formidable opponent." he replied, though it was more out of a sense of obligation than anything else. He bowed his head towards her, still too focused on being angry to really give her the respect he might have given her usually. "I apologize. Is there something you want?"

She smiles at him when given the compliment "Thanks, it's what I've been trying to do since I started doing this back in my teens. I'm just glad I can still go at this age." Given how she is getting to the point where many would start to slow down she looks like she could do this for much longer. "You weren't bad yourself." She wanted to say more but wasn't sure how to put it right away, though his follow up question did make it a bit easier for her. "Since you mention it there kind of is. I hope this doesn't come off negative sounding but...well" she was trying to figure how to word it without being insulting, which she wasn't trying to be. "While I did see some good from you I was hoping to see more. I know it didn't quite work out that way but I'll be around for a couple more days before I head back home. Maybe we could work out a bit and you can show me some more of what you can do? I don't mind passing along some of my knowledge and who knows, maybe you might teach me a thing or two" she lets out a small chuckle. Even though what happened to ring is over with she still had an interest in seeing what the upcoming generate of talent could do.

What was she still doing here? With each passing moment, Raiden just grew more and more irritable. When she said he wasn't bad, he bit his lower lip a bit harder to keep those retorts from flying out. He did worse than he wanted to. He got decimated. What was even the point? He just nodded as she explained, though it did nothing to assuage his anger. Of course, her saying that she "wanted to see more" just flipped the switch.

"I do not…want help from you," he replied, a little more coldly than he really wanted. "If I want help, then I will ask you, but I do not want your help now, nor will I want your help later." Of course, there was a piece of him, yelling at him, screaming, telling him that this was a Bad Move, and he would regret this. That she could help him, get him up there so he could learn how to actually win a match.

But he was too angry at himself, and too angry at the way the match ended up, and he just wouldn't speak reasonably. "But I do not want your help any moment before when I ask you. So just leave me alone."

Sometime she wasn't the best at wording things, especially when it came to dealing with those half her age, but she didn't think she said anything offensive. Maybe her timing just wasn't the best. She didn't mind if he preferred to do things on his own, but she head a feeling something wasn't sitting right with him. She wanted to figure out what was on his mind, but something told her it might not be best time to do so. She turned leave but just before she left she stopped and took another look at him, just in case if he changed his mind. Having a feeling that wasn't going to happen she left him be.

As she left part of her had the 'kids these days...' thought, while another part wondered if he'd come around. If he really wanted to do things on his own she was fine with that, but she did decide to keep an open mind if things changed for him later on. Before going back to where her stuff was she turned back in the direction of where Raiden was, in the off chance he decided to follow her. She saw nothing and continued on her way.

No, Kei hadn't said anything too offensive -- Raiden couldn't help but curse himself quietly as he burned that bridge thoroughly. Nice one, dumbass. You and your stupid pride, which never got in the way before. He gave a small huff to himself before looking up at her as she turned to leave, his eyes practically pleading with her to realize that he did need the help, that he was just too…dumb to accept it. But he tore his gaze away, staring at his locker.

As Kei got to the hallway, she would hear him slam against the locker again, before falling quiet. He was done. But he'd never forget the woman who tried to help him.

WINNER, KEI, BY PINFALL!