The Midas Touch, Episode 3: Star Force

[SuckerPunch]

Lexy

Lexy Alan would rise up from her seat at the timekeeper's desk at ringside. With a microphone in hand, she'd begin to shout with pride. Her introduction was an over-eager thing, and all while grasping at a small pink charm she was wearing around her neck, a Rose.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please rise and welcome The Ace of LAW!"

"She IS...your LAW Lightweight Chhhhampion!!!!"

"ROOOOOOOSE GOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLDDD!"

The lights went black leaving Lexy Alan's sweet sing-song announcing to echo throughout the arena. To play amongst the din of the roar of the crowd!

Theme

(Start at 1:21 for replays)

The lights flared in time with the beat of the electronica that had become synonymous with the Leader of the Lightweight Revolution. Every pump of bass brought on another flicker of gold stage lighting. Brought on a brief vision of the Venomous Vixen herself!

And when the beat dropped, the gold-toned lights flared fully to life! Gold confetti rained ceremoniously down from the ceiling. It refracted the light in a dazzling display of gaudy gold. And at the top of the stage stood the biggest little villain in LAW. She was clad in attire so tight that even the nosebleed section could see the lines of her perfect, athletic figure. Black and gold. The traditional colors of a champion. And atop the queen's head, a crown of black drowning in an ocean of golden tresses.

Queen Rose Gold

She threw her hair back and drank in the sight of the eager audience. The crowd was a din of cheers and boos. A cacophony that made it impossible to distinguish approval from disapproval.

She stalked her way down the ramp, a girl gilded in golden light and opportunity. She mounted the apron and slipped into the ring with microphone in hand.

"Shhh. Your Ace has something to say!" She rebuked the crowd into silence.

"There have been some murmurings on behalf of jealous, petty women backstage. Women who want to be me, but are afraid to try me. They say that I have been padding my record. That I have been running from real challenges and using my clout to pick on lesser fighters." The crowd began to boo and sneer. They were all unified in their disapproval, even if some booed in favor of Rose, and some against her.

She frowned sympathetically. "It's okay." She put up a hand as she wiped away a faux tear.

"As a visionary, I expect my work to be misunderstood. I expect the powers that be to rally against my revolution! Fear not! I will not let them dull my- Our triumph!" She turned her hips and looked sideways at the audience, a sardonic smirk on her lips.

"And that is why I have chosen to grace our Lightweight Division with yet another taste of my Midas Touch!" She turned towards the ramp with a sweep of her hand.

"Please. Welcome to the ring my guests for tonight's segment... Star Force!"

[Zeva]

Spoiler

The Star Force made no one waits, despite their less than encouraging debuts, their heroic gimmick, cute looks and clever marketing had earned them a solid fan base, who accompanied their passage to the ring with words of support. Yet the reaction they generated in most of the audience paled before Rose's, it was painfully obvious who was the real star.

The girls tried their best to give a good show in their way to the stage, they were specially animated today and it wasn't for less, they were going to fight a champion after all!... Sure, it wasn't a battle for the title and apparently the manager of the team had to make some concessions to get the match. Since it would be a handicap in their favor in exchange Rose could force them to accept any rule she wanted, even worse, they wouldn't know until the blonde announced them! But they reassured themselves, thinking that, after all, how bad could it be? Any rules she put in, might affect herself too.

"Let's do it Star!" Amari was radiant in her yellow unitard and had a wide smile, fighting side by side with her partner gave her hope, she felt for her training that they complemented each other well, she was sure that they would win.

"Ju-just call me Akiko, you know I don't like this "heroines" nonsense" In the distance anyone would think that the girl in blue was as happy as her friend, but her reality was not so happy. Why had she signed that stupid contract? She sighed, though she was beginning to catch something of Amari's enthusiasm, maybe today she wouldn't wake up in the infirmary...

"Hello Lady Rose, thanks for the invitation!" They shouted in unison, while performing an extravagant pose together, Akiko was on one leg with the other bent and with both hands as finger guns, Amari was in front of her, doing a sumo squat, while raising her arms, as in victory stance. The reaction from the audience was a mixture of cheers and laughter.

[SuckerPunch]

Star Force's tandem posing made Rose Gold's eye twitched hard enough to give her a headache. Her theatrical smile faltered as she felt something in her stomach turn. This was exactly the sort of thing that had made the Lightweight Division seem so laughable.

"You're... Welcome." She labored through the pleasantry as her hands gripped the microphone so hard her knuckles turned white.

She drew in a deep breath before turning her back to the tag team to address the audience. "LAW's management has accused me of fixing matches in my favor." She frowned and shook her head. "Of choosing opponents who don't deserve to share the ring with me." She looked towards the lights and -almost- looked hurt by the words she spoke.

"They fancy me a villain..." She turned back towards her guests with a stomp of her foot!

"Then surely it must take HEROES to bring me down!" Judging by the two women she was sure at least one of them would be roped in by her playing to their gimmick. Idiots.

"Tonight's Midas Touch will be a two vs. one handicap match! Against powerful heroes no less! A match so clearly in my opponent's favor that there are NONE who could question my integrity! What do you say? STAR FORCE?!" She threw a finger at the posing pair!

"An epic clash for the ages! Heroes vs. Villains! My pride!" She lofted the belt skyward! "Wagered against your..." She looked the pair over with a grin.

"Pride." The word was heavy and ominous with mal-intent.

[Zeva]

The girls got into a more casual pose when Rose turned her back on them to address the audience, listening carefully to what she had to say. The yellow Force was amused, the way Rose made the stadium vibrate was nothing less than awesome and Amari's eyes sparkled with the speech about heroes, villains and integrity, after all, this was what Amari had joined LAW for! Memorable epic fights where faces and heels give it their all despite the odds.

Akiko, instead, couldn't help but shake when she heard the word "pride" come from Rose's lips, the tone in which she said it didn't bode well at all. What would the blonde have in mind? "It seems like she wants to win over the audience, maybe if we don't bother her..." The Blue Star whispered to Amari, worried about the after match rules that Rose could set. But her naive partner was too happy and surprised to hear her.

"If you ask forgiveness for your previous misdeeds the Star Force will be fair to you!" The yellow force was so enthusiastic that she shouted without thinking as soon as a mic was handed to her. That made Akiko turned pale, she had to fight not to do a facepalm at the stupid words of her partner.

"T-he fuck was that?" The girl in blue whispered to her partner, but Amari hadn't even cared, she was just dying to start the match.

Mark this well! We are not afraid to risk our pride! We will bet what it takes to stop you! The Yellow Force looked Rose closely, waiting for her reaction.
The Blue Star sighed and crossed her arms, she didn't dare to look the champion in the eye anymore.

[SuckerPunch]

"Oh ho? How game you are." She smirked as she stepped towards the pair.

She crossed her arms as she appeared to be considering the Yellow Force's offer.

In reality she was evaluating the girls. Akiko appeared to be the more clever of the two. She could see the wheels turning in the girls head. Registering that what Rose Gold was presenting to them was only a portion of what she had in store. She was afraid. She'd be the easier woman to break.

Amari on the other hand was committed to the act. She was confident, to a fault, and appeared to be the driving force within the tag-team. She looked over at Akiko for just a moment as she wondered if there wouldn't be some resentment after tonight. Her eyes returned back to Amari as she made it clear she wouldn't back down. She would be the woman who was more -fun- to break.

"No, heroes, I don't think I'll be one begging for forgiveness by the end of this match." Her eyes burrowed into Akiko's. A primal call to answer her challenge or bare her throat. When she looked back to Amari, it was with a far less intimidating glare.

"Very well! Then tonight, Star Force will challenge the Lightweight Champion of the World for her title! Should they win, they will hold it under the free bird rule!" She lofted the belt up high as she scanned the crowd. The light glinted off of the glamorous vanity plated trophy.

"But if I win." She brought the belt down and clutched it to her chest protectively. "Then the Star Force will become my servant's in front of the whole world!" She grinned. The world had seen what that meant with Natalia Dominique Lacroix...

"But I am a fair woman myself." She stepped to the edge of the ring and passed her belt through the ropes to Lexy before returning to the center to stand across from the Yellow Force. "Your punishment will take place here, in this ring, in front of the world. And for only Two Minutes." She lifted a hand palm up as if to minimize her offer. "That is, unless you refuse to follow my orders. Every failure to do as your told will add more time on the clock. Another two minutes."

She extended her hand to Amari, ignoring Akiko, who she assumed was clever enough to refuse this devil's deal. "Of course. You're heroes. You would never go back on your word. So that shouldn't be a problem for you at all, right?"

[Zeva]

The woman in the blue attire felt Rose's gaze, that the blonde wasn't dumb, on the contrary, she was analyzing them, every word or gesture any of the Star Force made was an advantage for her, on the other hand Akiko, who was supposed to be the intelligent one of her team was too scared to look back and do the same. But she paid attention to the reactions of the public, those people knew what kind of show the champion would give them if she won, nothing good, it gave her chills just thinking about it.

The other member of the heroine team was getting more and more carried away by the words of her rival, forgetting that they weren't doing a play, but planning a fight, she was very excited and dying to start.

"Only two minutes? Are you trying to intimidate us with so little? we can bet even twice as long or even five minutes, I don't care! there's no way we're going to lose!" Amari said with confidence, so focused to appear strength she didn't even ponder the meaning of those words.

Akiko, who until now had been feared, even avoiding eye contact with Rose was infected a little of her partner's confidence, individually they were weaklings, but their teamwork... Maybe with that they would be able to impose themselves, the woman in blue was reflecting, soon her body language showed more confidence and for the first time she was looking directly into Rose's eyes.

"We will not take our word back, we... We accept the bet!" To everyone's surprise, even her partner, the Blue Start answered decisively and she took the initiative, getting ahead of Amari, accepting Rose's hand and proving that stupidity is contagious, with a gesture she indicated to Amari that she would be the first to fight.

Akiko felt that she should do it to compensate for having shown fear previously, it wasn't that the feeling had completely disappeared, quite the opposite with that bet, but she considered it unforgivable to show weakness even before the match started.

[SuckerPunch]

She had them right where she wanted them. The Cosplay Tag-Team was dancing right in the center of her palm! The blue "heroine" was practically ready to wet herself. Her mind had been addled by concern, so much so that she couldn't stop her yellow counter-part from making matters worse.

"Oh?" Rose was already smiling. When Amari upped the ante her grin grew three sizes. "You must be quite confident in yourselves. Very well! Five minutes then." Her tone was playful. Sporting almost.

Something about Amari's daredevil antics seemed to inspire her blue-garbed partner. She stepped forward and met Rose's amused gaze, and she would find that, hey... It wasn't so bad! Rose was just a small girl of not even 120 pounds!

Their hands met in a clasp, finalizing the match. Amari faded away as the ref moved to inform the timekeeper and prepare the bell to ring.

When Akiko sought to release the handshake however, Rose didn't yield.

Her grip tightened. Her knuckles turning white as her fingertips dug into the Blue Force's hand painfully. And in that moment Rose's honeyed ambers became something more... Sinister. Her amusement melted away and revealed the hungry malice that was hiding beneath. She was staring directly into the eyes of a serpent that was already coiled around her!

The small girl suddenly felt... Much larger. Predatory. ...Dangerous.

Rose Gold licked her lips.

And the bell rang.

[Zeva]

Akiko had already regretted many things in her still short career at LAW, but none had been this fast, Rose's strong grip caused made their knees bump into each other and she had to try to free herself with the help of her other hand, yet the strength to do so disappeared due to the gaze of her rival.

When did Rose metamorphosed, going from a skinny princess if somewhat spoiled brat, to a boa constrictor that was now about to crush her hand? The heroine continued her pathetic attempt to get loose. More than difference in physical strength, it was a dark aura around her rival that intimidated the girl in blue, the real abyss between them were the mentalities, Akiko didn't have the disposition of Rose, to do what was necessary to win, to break the other.

Meanwhile the Yellow Force was going to the corner, naive to the fact that the fight had already started, albeit not with punches and kicks. She would take her place in tag position. "Come on Akiko! This is fine to be polite and such, but get into a fighting stance once!"

When the bell rang, she just wanted to run away, yet again her friend's words reached her and gave the Blue Star some encouragement "L-Let me go!" She demanded and launched a front kick as she pulled hard trying to free herself, possibly falling on her butt if she managed to get loose or Rose left her go.

Sitting on the mat, she would back off with her hands giving a pitiful sight, until Rose decided what to do with her.

[SuckerPunch]

As the bell rang, Star Force took the initiative. The girl in blue threw a kick into Rose Gold's belly! The crowd went wild, roaring for Akiko's fiery opening to the bout! A passionate rookie standing up to the champion!

But the two women in the ring knew how different the reality of the situation was.

Rose Gold could see the way Akiko's eyes wavered. The panic in her expression. Her partner's words had inspired her to move... But without them she had been little more than a deer in headlights. Of the two, Akiko would be easier to break.

"Unf!" Rose closed one eye in a wince as Akiko's boot made contact with her firm belly. It hurt, but she held her ground against the sudden attack. She immediately released the handshake to ensure that Akiko couldn't manage any additional leverage. And ontop of that, it would ensure that Akiko was knocked off balance, sent staggering backwards and onto her butt.

There, Rose loomed large over her. She pressed a palm to her own belly and glared at Akiko as if to say 'look at what you did!'

Her hand fell away from her stomach, balling into a fist. The pale skin of her tummy was marred by a red mark created by Akiko's off-balance kick. The Sinister Siren glared down upon her prey, silently -daring- her to try to get up. She allowed her intent to bleed into Akiko's consciousness. To fray her nerves with the knowledge that the moment she did, she would be struck!

[Zeva]

Realizing that the "escape" didn't go as well as she had anticipated when she fell on her ass on the mat, Akiko was pleased by at least hadn't started the fight caught by Rose, or so she thought, until she saw how the hand on the champion's belly become a menacing fist.

The Blue Star looked at Rose's expression, turning pale, with her still sore hand she knew that she was not going to win any competition of strength here and felt her body rigid with fear. It was as if she couldn't access the part of the brain that controlled her agile nimbles, trembling, she brought her arms to both sides of her head and tried to get up with some difficulty.

From a distance it might seem that she was adopting a boxing pose, that she was prepared to exchange blows, the reality is that the frightened little girl had her eyes closed, her position only served to hide that fact from the audience. For the only thing that Akiko was ready was to receive the punishment that the "queen" had in store for her.

Caught in her pessimistic thoughts, the blue dressed heroine didn't even consider a counterattack or a defensive strategy, her only protection was her hands on the head and her dull reflexes.

Meanwhile Amari thought things were going well, after the kick and everything and so she decided to keep quiet not to distract her partner, not knowing that it was precisely overthinking that was giving her rival the edge.