From One Champion To Another...

Angel smiled, as she stood in the center of the Tension ring, her eyes darting back and forth over the crowd. In one hand, the Latina clutched a microphone, waiting for the crowd to quiet down so she could speak, and across her shoulder lied her recently won (and defended!) title belt. She paced back and forth a little bit, glancing out over the crowd. She didn't like being in the Tension arena much. Mixed matches weren't really her thing (though she had a good record with them), but she was here for a reason. She wasn't content with being the Friction champion. She wanted to do more.

Once the crowd got over their confusion towards Angel and finally shut up, the Latina lifted the microphone to her lips, a sly smile on her face as she looked towards the entrance to the arena. "Is the Tension champion here tonight...? If you are, chica, you need to get your ass out here! I'm calling you out right now!" She lowered the microphone from her lips and smirked, waiting to see if the champion would show up. The crowd though, started to go nuts, whispering and talking to each other. Just what was Angel up to, calling out Tension's champion like this?

John, quite frankly, had nothing on the schedule tonight. He had no matches booked, he had very little to do. He was in the Tension arena, but only because he was hanging out with friends and watching things from backstage with them. So, when he was called out, it took him completely by surprise.

As a result of his surprise, there was a small delay after Angel called him out. The crowd started to go hush as they waited, not sure what any of this strange activity was about or if the champ would come out…then, after the crowdâ€s silence spread, [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww5GXbk58R0:112o40gl]Bad Company[/url:112o40gl] began to blare. Without any pyro or fancy fanfare, the Tension champion emerged from backstage.

Johnâ€s figure looked somewhat imposing as he stood at the top of the ramp. He was shirtless, his two small scars clearly visible on his muscular body. He was wearing rugged, digital camouflage Army trousers and tan boots. His belt was draped across his shoulder, much like the way Angelâ€s was, and he was holding a mic. All of this was topped off by his flame colored bright red hair.

John made his way down the music to the whooping and cheering of the crowed. He, of course, knew who Angel was. But he had no idea if Angel knew him, especially since she just referred to him as ‘girl.†Finally, John climbed into the ring. As his music faded away, he looked at Angel from the other side of the ring. His face was stone, not betraying any emotion.

Finally, John lifted up his microphone and the crowed got relatively quiet again. << “Itâ€s ‘chico†for a man.” >> John said in Spanish. He would have a hugely obvious American accent, but spoke accurately enough.

After that, Johnâ€s cold expression finally broke into his normal warm smile. In fact, he was positively grinning. “Pleasure to meet you.” He said, walking into the center of the ring and extending his hand to shake Angels. “I take it youâ€re here looking for a match?” He said, still smiling. Any challenge was good news, as far as he was concerned, especially from a skilled opponent. “Since your calling me out, that is."

Angel gave out a low whistle as John made his appearance, tracing him up and down with her eyes as she stood atop the entrance ramp. She was surprised. The Tension champion was a guy? From her experience with the division (As well as the many, many rumors and insults she had heard about Tension), she was expecting the belt to be held by another woman!

It didn't matter though. She had come this far, so she would stay her course and go through with her plans.

She grinned at him as he entered the ring, the Latina chuckling other her breath at his words. <I know that. Can't say I was expecting such a man to come out here though...> She met his gaze, flashing him a quick wink before lifting her microphone back to her lips, taking his hand to give it a firm shake.

"Of course I'm looking for a match," she started, pulling her hand back and resting it on her hip. She tilted her head towards him and continued. "It's not good enough to just be the Friction champion, you know? I have to prove that I'm the best, period." She looked down to her belt, then at John's, before meeting his eyes again. "So I figure, if I kick the ass of the Tension champion, whoever that might be, that'll prove I'm the best wrestler in the entire company, right?"

John could tell Angel had been a little surprised to see a man come out, and that amused him. In fact, he was the second man in a row to hold the belt. Not that he considered the coward he took it from to be much of a man.

John was still smiling warmly as he shook hands with Angel. Maybe this belt wasnâ€t so bad after all. This certainly turned a day of just sitting around into something very interesting.

“<<Well, I didnâ€t expect to meet the famous Angel either.>>” John chuckled back after they were done shaking hands. He wasnâ€t sure how to take her phrasing, ‘such a man,†but after the wink he took it as a compliment. He watched as her eyes drifted from his belt, to her own, then back to him.

‘Best in the company?†That assumed John was the best just because he had the belt. It was a nice thought, but John wasnâ€t convinced of it. Not after the way they practically gave it to him……now wasnâ€t the time to worry about such things, the thought was quickly banished from his mind.

“Well, itâ€s a good thought, but thereâ€s one problem.” John said, smirking and taking a moment to look over at the excited crowd. “If we fought, I wouldnâ€t be the one getting their ass kicked.”

After he said that, he smirked, then he slowly put the mic down and turned his head a bit. John pretended as if he was thinking it over. This was mostly for the crowds benefit. Angel certainly knew John wasnâ€t going to embarrass himself by saying no. Plus, John really wanted to do this. Even if he didnâ€t win, just putting up a good showing against someone skilled enough to have a belt would make him feel a little less like he cheated himself into this position. He didnâ€t cheat, of course, but it was way easier than it should have been. The delay seamed to make the crowd grow silent for a moment, before their chaotic shouts and calls rose up again. Slowly, John brought the mic back to his lips. “Hmmm….well, I hope youâ€re ready, because I accept.” The last syllable was nearly drowned out by the excited crowd, they definitely wanted to see the two champs go at it.

Angel waited in silence, as John pretended to think things over. She knew she was going to say yes, but there was no harm in playing it up for the audience. Her heart was starting to pound though, the Latina growing anxious as she waited for a response. She was starting to feel antsy, starting to feel on edge. After all, the other three men who's ass she had kicked in Tension were jokes. They were nothing, really, but John didn't give off that sort of feeling to Angel. She could tell from his attitude and his appearance (And the fact that he had the damn title!) that he was someone worth taking seriously. She didn't regret challenging him though, far from it. In fact, it was only going to make her feel that much better about her win when she defeated him!

When he finally made his response, and the crowd finally died back down, she lifted her microphone back to her lips, taking a step towards John. "I'm glad to hear you accept! Maybe it means that there's at least one guy in Tension worth something!" She took another step towards him, lifting a hand upwards, gently poking a finger into his bare chest. "I do hope you're ready to fight though. I want you tonight, right here, and I think this entire crowd is more than ready to see that!" She grinned, and gave him another quick wink, as the crowd began to cheer and roar again.

<You're going down, champ...> She teased, as the crowd let the two champions know of their approval. <Nothing personal, but I can't really lose tonight. Not after coming all this way and calling you out, you know...>

“Tonight? Well, I always say, never put off for tomorrow.” John grinned, taking his belt off of his shoulder.

“<Weâ€ll see…I canâ€t lose either.”>” He winked back, smirking. John was well on his way to using up his Spanish, he was dam lucky heâ€d had a soldier in his platoon who spoke Spanish better than English, otherwise heâ€d have lost all of his High School Spanish and wouldnâ€t know half of what he did.

John meant what he said, the more he thought about this, the more he felt that he had to win, if only to prove to himself that he did deserve this.