Ishikawa v Juno Sawyer- A Tsunami against a Glacier.

Suzumi Ishikawa vs Juno Sawyer
Match Type: Standard
Victory Conditions: Pinfall, Submission, countout, or KO
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“Rhein! What is the meaning of this?!”

The fierce tone cut through the hallway like an icepick destroying ice. There was a few AFW employees around, mostly backstage staff and equipment technicians that did the day-to-day work of running entrance themes and cleaning up after the performers. The two stand out individuals was a woman rather tall woman that wore a white, long sleeve button up shirt, a black dress vest, and black dress shoes. The way she was dressed and constantly chattering in a business like manner on the phone, many people wrote her off as “important” and left her alone. But the woman, who had been identified as “Rhein”, was the subject of the other standout individual’s wrath. The woman who was rushing towards the well-dressed individual was well known around AFW, at least when it came to the staff. Her name was Juno Sawyer, and she was always hanging around the technical department. Apparently, she would create videos and edit them on her laptop at home, then bring them in for further edits and initial reactions…some technicians still had nightmares from the videos they were forced to watch from her.

Juno marched right up to Rhein, not caring that she was still in the middle of a call. Knowing full well what was about to happen, Rhein sighed, apologized to the person she was talking to, and promised to call them back in a minute.

“What do you want, Juno?”

The blue haired woman shoved a piece of paper right into the other woman’s face with out an inch of hesitation. Rhein slapped the hand away gently, not letting the paper get close enough to touch her face but adjusting her spectacles anyway.

“It says here you booked me a match already! I told you already, I will not fight no-named, pathetic, poster girls! The fact that you seemed to have scheduled this fight in only a few days without my permission shows your lack of professionality, so I demand that you hurry up and fix your mistake before they go any further!”

Rhein stared at Juno, a blank, dissatisfied look resting on the managers face. It was like a mother staring at an antsy child, and even Rhein was aware of that fact. She hated the fact that Juno felt more like a spoiled step child more than an actual client. The only reason Rhein didn’t tear up the Nurse’s contract on the spot was because her employers seemed fond of her cruel antics, and would likely be disappointed if Rhein were to do so. While Rhein figured that made who she worked for just as bad as Juno, she decided to push that aside and just do what she was paid to and make her entire clientele marketable.

But Juno was not making it easy.

“First of all, your lucky I could even find you a match after the stunt you pulled back at the apartment complex. You know how close you were to destroying your entire life? Do you remember who pulled you out of the fire and had to step into the flames for you?”

Rhein was already at her limit with Juno. The Nurse had stalked another competitor at AFW, threatened her family, and was dumb enough to be recorded doing so. What little credibility she had seemed to tank, and there was almost an investigation launched on AFW itself, with people wondering why the companies hiring requirements were so lax. If it were not for Rhein’s quick thinking, contacts, and her use of over a dozen favors, she would have been in serious trouble. All for the sake of this ungrateful brat.

“Second, your opponent is Suzumi Ishikawa. She is far and away a talentless nobody, having been a veteran of Wrestling Angels, an actress for a time, and having a decent history here in the AFW. Just because you didn’t look her up doesn’t mean she isn’t high profile. At worst, she is mid-tier.”

Juno seemed to have her mouth wired shut. All she did was glare at Rhein with her icy eyes, as if she was considering attacking the woman in front of her. Rhein knew she wouldn’t considering it was only Rhein who was watching over her and keeping her out of trouble. If Juno bit the hand that fed her, that was it and they both knew it. Rhein simply turned away and strolled the opposite direction, sending one final parting shot before disappearing around the corner to continue her call,

“Third point, it was not a mistake. My job isn’t to make you happy, but to make you marketable. This match will be an excellent palette cleanser for your past transgressions…so try not to screw it up.”

Suzumi hadn't had a match in... well seemingly forever. The good news is she was able to train and any signs of her old injury having a negative effect on her career were now long gone. She felt whole, back to her old self. Suzumi was in her wrestling attire, thinking about how she wanted to get herself back on the wrestling map. She didn't want to just do well she wanted gold around her waist. However, tonight she simply had to focus on one opponent. One woman was going to mark her return as a triumphant one. Suzumi didn't know much of anything about Juno but she was more than ready to step in the ring and take her down pinfall or submission.

Suzumi was all smiles as her music began to play, she came out waving to the crowd, blowing kisses and swaying her hips as she worked to fire up the roaring crowd. She had it all and knew she was marketable. Her brief acting career during her initial retirement didn't hurt that either. Very few could hype up a crowd like Suzumi could. She climbed up into the ring, still grinning as she strut about, taking in the cheers, basking in the feeling of being back in the ring again!

She eventually settled into a corner eagerly awaiting the beginning on the match. That bell couldn't ring quickly enough for Suzumi. She wanted to feel alive again inside the ring. She wanted to fully embrace being back in action.

As the lights dimmed, and the crowd grew silent in anticipation for Suzumi’s opponent…A small light cut through the darkness and rested atop the entryway. It’s blinding white clashed against the surrounding darkness, swallowing up the remnants of the actress’s flashy entrance. Even the biggest of the Tsunami’s fans were drawn to the light like moths to a flame, their natural instinct to look at the alien object that had just appeared over the entryway.

After about a minute, the bright white light slowly pigmented into a dull grey, almost bordering on black for a few moments. The majority of the audience stared, confused and unaware of what kind of entrance this was. Only a few members of the audience really knew who Juno Sawyer was, and the first thing many thought of was her penchant for twisted entrances. Those that knew better decided to look away as best they could…but the dark allure of what could play out on that screen continued to suck gaze’s in, detracting any attention from the former Angel.

Slowly, the grey began to flicker, revealing a dark, dreary room. The walls were made of long forgotten brick, mildew and moss growing in patches throughout the walls. The floor was filthy with dust and debris, garbage such as crumpled paper or rotted wood and ceiling littered the cracked concreate floor. Only a lone door seemed to break away from the look of decay, its polished black coat of paint only broken apart by its golden hinges and door knob.

Slowly, the camera moved towards the door, revealing it was a first-person perspective. The persons footsteps crunch and cracked the garbage on the floor, the quite steps implying a barefoot approach. The door swung open easily, its well-oiled hinges making no sound as the person stepped into a surprisingly clean hallway. The bright, white light was once again blinding as the protagonist stepped out of the dark room.

The floor was decorated with white tiles, so clean they looked as if they were brand new. The hallway was lined with overhead lights that beamed powerful rays against the floor, making the hallway look as if it were one great light! Only the large windows held any darkness, revealing the outside world to be nothing but a black void. A dark aura seemed to linger in the air.

A sharp noise came out from down the hall, the sound of shattering glass and a scream ringing out at the end of the hall. With two loud thuds, a door was smashed open! Its hard impact echoing out through the hallways as multiple figures began to emerge from the door frame.

All of them were identical, large white lab coats covered in blood, thick gloves that clung to different types of medical equipment ranging from a drill to a long scalpel. Each person wore a mask that was similar to a sack, black holes where eyes and a mouth should have been, as black as the outside world. All of them seemed to move strangely, some twitching and lurching, other crawling on all fours like animals.  All of them emerged from the door way and began to stare at the camera…which slowly panned away, turning around to reveal the protagonist was, in fact, Suzumi herself. The look alike wore one of her famous outfits, all torn up and dirty from abuse. Her face was tight with fear. Slowly, she began to back away, the strange creatures at the end already starting to approach her. The woman turned, starting run down the hallway, only for a black phantom to stand in her way.

Th creature wore a thin smile, its eyes burning down towards her like blades sticking into a fresh slab of meat. It’s long limbs already starting to envelope the actress, its body made of the same void that seemed to reside outside. Only its blue smile seemed to cut through the darkness, and as the monsters at the end began to descend on their prey, all the actress could do was silently scream in horror, as the phantom smile grew wider and wider.

Just as the monsters were upon her, the tape stopped. The lights began to return, and the Nurse was settled in the ring. Her cold, empty gaze watching her opponent passively. Juno hardly seemed to mind the strange horrors she created, her body language relaxed and open. The cold aura that exuded from the nurse seemed to chill any excitement Suzumi had created, and create a ravenous conflict between the two fighters.

Well that was..... something. It was different for sure. Suzumi raised an eyebrow as the grandiose entrance was made. Saying that it was a lot of spectacle was a huge understatement. however in the back of Suzumi's mind, despite the crazy visuals she couldn't help but feel happy. Someone who focused this much on the appearance of an entrance oftentimes neglected one thing far more important: mat skills.

As the nurse looking woman settled in the corner Suzumi stepped towards the middle of the ring and clapped, nodding to her opponent. "Like, that was amazing! The special effects were really eye catching! I like, totally thought I was back on a movie set! you did a really good job with all that and if your wrestling skills are close to this then we will have a good match!" Suzumi said sounding as bubbly as possible. Indeed she felt like she was back in an early horror movie, as she did a few of them before her 2 year acting career took off with a few romantic comedy roles. That entrance made her feel on the set of something that made her something of a scream queen in movies targeted at teenagers once again.

However, the somewhat air headed Suzumi also understood that most women would be shocked by an entrance like that. She wanted to show that she was different and in her own subtly intelligent way gain a mental edge over Juno showing that she wasn't rattled!

The Nurse was hardly paying any attention to Suzumi, her mind seemingly preoccupied with other things as she settled into her corner. The video played out its dark message, and Juno watched it passively. Honestly, the Nurse was not too happy with how it turned out. It was dark, sure, but hardly held any deeper message. The information in it was scant, and hardly resonated what the Nurse was trying to get across. There was some enjoyment working on it, but this video came off as rushed. Probably because Juno only had a day and a half to shoot the whole thing rather then the week she usually had. It was a miracle she had anytime to create the costumes and the quick script.

Still, it seemed to impress the subject that stood across the ring from her. Juno was hardly shocked at how cool Suzumi was. The woman was an actress, as if she would show off her true feelings to such an obvious provocation. Juno didn’t bother digging into her career, but she had probably been in a horror movie at least once. It was probably easy to think of those bags headed men as just guys and girls in masks with some slight post production editing to make them seem weird and the phantom just a large puppet made from garbage bags, a Halloween mask, and a few animation tricks. To Suzumi, who had seen the other side of video making, they were just people doing a bit. If Juno wanted a reaction, she would have had to get personal, and she simply had no time to do so.

Juno didn’t bat an eye at the angel’s compliments. Simple praise held little merit to the Nurse, made even less so by the fact she really didn’t care about Suzumi too much at all.

“Hmm?” Juno’s icy gaze flashed over towards the approaching woman, Suzumi’s warm smile being met with only cold hostility, “This is far from my best work. I had hardly anytime to prepare it, but even if I had a year, I don’t think I could have made a video that would have suited my tastes. You aren’t much of a subject, you see. I could barely pry any inspiration from such a dull personality like yours, you sad, sniveling, homespun idiot.”

Juno finally moved away from the corner to meet her foe in the center of the ring. Her relaxed posture as she walked announced how little the veteran fighter intrigued her, with little to no caution to be seen in the Juno’s stride.

“But I am happy to see you are so easily entertained by such low priority drivel. I’m sure I will be much more enthralling then a simple video could ever be.”

"You are like, a total drag! If you think I am boring the whole gloom and doom thing is soooooo much of a downer that it will be easy to put you down on that mat for a three count or tap out!" Suzumi said, shaking her hips and giving the fans a thumbs up as she spoke. The smiling Suzumi was in stark contrast to Juno, and it showed clear as day.

As the bell rang Suzumi began to circle Juno, moving fluidly and looking over Juno's body language, motions, everything. She knew that despite what this woman and many others thought of Suzumi she was brilliant inside a ring. The tsunami moved in, lunging in for a grapple and using her fluid footwork to grab an arm of Juno while easily moving behind her in order to start the match off by putting her in a hammerlock!

“…What?”

Juno could barely understand this woman. She loved starting every sentence off with “like”, as if this were some pathetic school drama club skit. It didn’t help that Suzumi was talking like some sort of air headed classman who just graduated high school. The nurse’s eyes just stared at the actress blankly, uncaring glaciers pointed at the tsunami’s general direction. Juno was irritated, but she couldn’t place the blame at Suzumi’s feet even if she wanted to.

The woman who danced about, pleasing the crowd by shaking her hips and acting cheerful was not to blame for Juno’s sour mood. No, she wasn’t anywhere near important enough to do so. Juno had been going through a great many things these past weeks, almost getting thrown in jail after a rabid street fight. Now, she only had one last fight with her rival…it felt so very strange. The woman she hated so very much, to the point where she did insane things just to get to her and tore her own body to shreds just to grow strong enough to beat her would soon be out of her reach.

What would be the point?

It was a feeling Juno hadn’t been able to comprehend since her manager had told her about the arrangement. What was she to do? Who was she supposed to hate now? Juno had spent months training, growing, learning! All just so she could best her rival…and now she only had one chance remaining. One final attempt to topple the demon that lay resting in her dreams.

But first, she had to deal with Suzumi…who lacked any of the strength Juno’s hated enemy had. None of the will, nor the determination. Just the desire to act moronic in hopes to gain an edge in battle.

“As if I didn’t watch any of your previous matches…”

Suzumi would lunge forward, looking to grapple with the nurse, but Juno didn’t even raise her hands. Like a cold, dead fish, Juno’s eyes just stared at her foe as if she were nothing. They seemed red, as if Juno had spent many nights tossing and turning in her bed without getting so much as an hour of sleep.

The actress quickly grabbed ahold of Juno’s arm and place it in a hammerlock, the nurse hardly resisting. The hold was locked in tight; no way Juno would be able to use her arm to escape. It was a fine way to start off a match, getting a dominant position and learning how fast a foe reacts could be crucial in a fight. The nurse lazily looked over her shoulder, with no real feeling in her empty eyes.

“Hmm…?” Juno muttered, “I knew you liked submissions…but I didn’t think you would start off with such a basic one.”

Juno’s foot came down like a hydraulic press! Her heel looking to crunch itself against the bones in Suzumi’s foot. Juno was aiming for a small artery that ran through the foot, looking to pinch it and add a stinging pain to what was doubtlessly a violent blow. If Juno succeeded, she would try to free herself be swinging her head back and smashing Suzumi’s face with the back of her skull.

Suzumi noted that as Juno badmouthed her for being basic her counter was that of a child! Not technical, just a foot stomp. however Suzumi did not badmouth anything that proved effective as her foot was throbbing! She let go of the hold, hobbling backward after letting go. In a way her foot throbbing ended up saving her to some extent. As Juno's backhand strike hit it ended up hitting the top of Suzumi's skull instead of her face! "Gah! You think I am basic? You are a basic bitch!" Suzumi shouted as she hobbled in a momentary daze.

She noted that Juno early on seemed to prefer strikes. Suzumi was shorter but she was a very fit, well built wrestler. She knew that she could overcome Juno. To that end she tried to shuffle step forward and swing her leg up sending a fast toe kick right into Juno's abdomen to strike back at the woman!

Just as Juno had predicted, her technique of escape proved to be effective. The two hits were powerful enough to get Suzumi off of the nurse, and though the last strike missed its mark, it still bounced off the top of the woman’s skull. Juno never cared for the hammerlock hold, as anyone with a few braincells can easily break out of it using the same technique Juno had just used. It was taught in self-defense classes, so it was common knowledge for many.

The back of Juno’s head did sting a little after the impact, but hardly enough to become groggy because of it. In fact, Juno didn’t act much different then before. She still seemed slow, relaxed, and disinterested. When she turned around to face Suzumi, her arms dangled by her side. Juno was hardly putting in any real effort to fight the actress.

“Bitch? I never said that…although I don’t disagree with your assessment…”

Even the way Juno talked was lazy. It was slow, and only loud enough to reach the referee and Suzumi herself. The audience would have no clue what she was saying so long as she spoke in her tired tone.

“For someone who likes to pretend to be a great actress, you sure have a terrible problem with hiding your emotions. Weren’t you supposed to be one of those moronic, optimistic types?...”

Juno didn’t care if Suzumi was acting or not, but found her cutesy antics annoying. Though Juno played characters as well, she preferred to do so only when there was an advantage to it. Pretending to be stupid may have been effective if Juno never looked into the actress, but being as famous and high profile as she was it would be impossible to believe she was as dumb as she tried to let people think.

Although Suzumi definitely seemed to be making dumb decisions for this fight. On a hoppled foot, she tried to rush over towards the stationary nurse and fling a kick towards her. Juno watched, as cold and lifeless as a statue. Only one of Juno’s arms raised upwards like a snake to form a quick defense, Suzumi’s kick cracking against muscle as the Nurse winced slightly. Pain shot right up her arm, but rather then retreat, the arm reached out and snagged the actress’s leg.

If Suzumi didn’t think fast, Juno would use her other arm to drive a sharp elbow right into Suzumi’s trapped shin. The force would not be enough to break anything, but it would continue to hopple the plucky woman. She would be an easy target for the nurse, as her speed would slowly drain away.

Suzumi looked on with a frown as her kick was caught! As Juno raised her elbow up Suzumi realized that she had a golden opportunity in front of her. Taking a deep breath she jumped up, swinging the leg she was standing on around the try to hammer the side of Juno's head with an enziguri to catch her off guard with a big kick to the head! Suzumi knew that Juno was underestimating her and she was just fine with that. Her Wrestle Angels and AFW career were full of women who underestimated her laying on the mat defeated after doing so!