GOD(-san) vs Fallen Angel; Sachiko Kanda vs Maria Crawford

[Mart-Kos]

Sachiko was doing some last minute stretches as she mentally prepared herself for what was going to be an eventful evening. The match that they had lined up for tonight made her feel a bit nostalgic. Why might one ask? It was because her opponent tonight was a fellow Wrestle Angel alum that she hadn't seen since WA's unfortunate end, Maria Crawford! It didn't surprise her that management was already putting her against a fellow Angel, but she was surprised that out of the many WA alumni already in LAW, that it was Maria. Sachiko remembered going against her several times in WA and well... there were a few times where she felt bad for the Englishwoman. However, she had heard about how Maria was now rolling with other former WA talent and had greatly improved herself since those days. Sachiko was looking forward to seeing if that was true.

"Time to go." Sachiko said to herself as she finished her stretches and made her way to the Gorilla Position. Once there, it didn't take long for her to hear John Cafferty's Hearts on Fire, the song that always psyched her up for her matches. Sachiko would step out onto the ramp and be welcomed by the cheering of the crowd, she could tell they were excited to see a good old fashioned WA match. Sachiko would walk down the ramp, waving and fist bumping several lucky attendee's in the crowd as she did so.

Once she was a ringside, Sachiko would hop up onto the apron, climb through the ropes, and step into the ring. Sachiko would walk one quick lap around the center of it, getting a good luck at the arena before going into a corner. "Hope you're looking forward to this as much as I am, Maria." Sachiko muttered to herself and waited for the English dominatrix to come out.

Spoiler

[BlackAkuma]

Maria Crawford was not looking forward to this.

It hadn't even been that long since her last match, a week out from her bout against Toshimi Minami. To put it nicely, things hadn't gone to plan. To put it bluntly, she’d gotten twisted into a pretzel, embarrassed, and trounced, and while she had recovered physically from all of that - for the most part - she wasn’t in the mood for another match. Especially not against Sachiko Flipping Kanda.

She wasn’t sure if the so-called ‘Lightspeed Fist’ remembered her, but Maria damn sure remembered her. More specifically, she recalled getting punched in the face, repeatedly, with her nose getting broken at least once. She was one of the worst possible opponents for someone whose bread and butter was slams and submissions, and yet, here she was, taking her on.

It wasn’t a position she craved for, but at least she didn’t come along. As she made her way down to the ring, Zero Kotobuki followed close behind, staying in her shadow as she made her way down the ramp. With hands on hips, she made her way up the stairs as her

thrashed behind her, heralding her arrival with a thunderous bass.

Maria made her way around the ring, side-eyeing her opponent as she stayed a safe distance away, only breaking away to glance at those damnable fists. ”Kanda.” She spoke simply, quietly, with only a hint of irritation. ”It’s been a while. I see your fashion sense hasn’t improved since we last met.”

Seriously, such a loud outfit. Could the woman be any less subtle?

Maria Crawfrod

[Mart-Kos]

Sachiko's wait for Maria wasn't anywhere near as long as she thought it would be as she soon heard Maria's music begin to play. She watched as the dominatrix came down the ramp, followed closely by another familiar face, Zero Kotobuki. Sachiko couldn't help but chuckle a small bit as she heard some of the naughtier members of the crowd cheer and beg for Maria to step on them and other such things. It was obvious now that Maria's fanbase was much greater now than it ever was in their WA days.

Once she finally entered the ring, Sachiko noted how Maria side-eyed her, especially her fists, and how she intentionally seemed to be keeping a good distance from her. It was obvious that Maria definitely remembered their encounters, especially how one of them ended resulting in the breaking of the Englishwoman's poor nose. Finally, Maria spoke and Sachiko could already tell that she was less than pleased to be competing against her.

"Maria, good to see you again." Sachiko greeted her back. "As for my clothes, what can I say? Once you find a look that works you stick with it. I see you on the other hand decided it was time for a change." Sachiko said, remembering how Maria's initial look in WA made her look more like a sinister teacher than a dominatrix. Sachiko would then briefly turn her attention to Zero and give her a wave, knowing the girl wasn't much for words before returning it to Maria.

"I heard you've grown quite a bit since we were last in a ring together. Care to show me if it's true?" Sachiko said as she got ready.

[BlackAkuma]

Maria’s face scrunched up as Sachiko mentioned her old look, thinking back to worse times. That period of her life did her no favors, but it served as the chrysalis from which her current, superior incarnation arose, a prelude of great things to come. The last thing she wanted was to be reminded of it, however. Even less so by this woman.

The fact that Sachiko likely didn’t see it as an insult made it even more infuriating.

She followed her opponent’s gaze at Zero, who responded to her wave in the way she most often responded to things: Blinking. Aside from that, she stayed still and impassive, only slightly less stone-faced than an actual gargoyle. If wrestling ever didn’t work for her, she could get wonderful work as a scarecrow.

”A great many things have changed, Sachiko-san. A great many things, indeed.” She stayed at a safe distance, keeping her arms folded. ”I’m guessing you don’t keep up with current events? Do you know what’s going on with the Angels in LAW?”

[Mart-Kos]

Sachiko wasn't surprised by Zero's response, or rather lack thereof. That girl's poker face was so on point, trying to figure out what was going on through that head of her's at any given time was almost like trying to figure out the reason for the Mona Lisa's mysterious smile. Sachiko turned her attention back to Maria, whom was in agreement that things had "changed" since their old days together. Sachiko raised an eyebrow when Maria asked her if she kept up with "current events" in LAW and what was going with the other former Angels in the league.

Sachiko gave it a bit of thought before something finally came to mind. "Oh you mean that match you had with Minami-chan? Yeah, I heard about that. Tough luck, but from what I heard, you did pretty good lasting so long against her. I'm sure you'll get her the next time you two go head-to-head." Sachiko said, teasing Maria a bit by pretending to think the Englishwoman wanted Sachiko to console her for that loss. The truth was that she had heard something about how Maria and her new friends were attempting to recruit former WA wrestlers for something, but she didn't really give it much thought other than "huh, neat".

[BlackAkuma]

Maria was fairly sure this was destined to end in abject failure. From what she remembered of Sachiko, the woman was fairly stalwart - not the most self-righteous wrestler in their federation, but not the type to use less sundry means. She was more or less what you would expect from someone with green hair who liked to punch things. Simple, straightforward, not accustomed to the nuances of the wrestling world. Not the sort of person who would find their wrestling union to interesting.

But Maria had agreed to at least make her the offer, so her she was, putting on her best saleswoman’s face - right up until Sachiko brought up Minami. She grimaced at the mention of the name, but pushed through her mounting rage.

”Yes. Well. That’s another concern for another day.” She cleared her throat and brought her hand behind her back as she started to strut around the ring, getting closer, but not in range. Not yet. ”Today I would like to extend you an offer. Some of the other girls and I have come together to form a sort of team. A stable. Just for us Wrestling Angels. Something to ensure that we get the respect we’re due from our peers, regardless of whether or not they want to give it.”

She leaned forward and gazed at Sachiko oer the rims of her glasses. ”Interested?”

[Mart-Kos]

Sachiko's little "joke" didn't seem to go over well as Maria grimaced at the mention of Minami's name. Clearly it was still a sore subject for the English Dominatrix but, she quickly recovered from it and gave Sachiko an interesting offer. Apparently, Maria and some other former WA alum were indeed looking to form a new "team" of sorts, made-up of all the WA's in the league. It sounded good on paper, there was a number of girls Sachiko would have like to see and hang out with again and reminisce about the old days but....

" "Respect that we're due"? Maria, did you take a few too many hits to the head or are you just spending too much time with your S&M stuff?" Sachiko asked. "You make it sound like WA amounted to nothing at all. You have any idea how many women and men out there were inspired to get into wrestling because of what we did? Heck, I had one girl in a completely other league challenge ME because she respected the hell out of me for coming out here and fighting the only way I know how. If that ain't respect, then I really don't know what else to tell you." Sachiko shrugged her shoulders as she wrapped up her little speech. What Maria and the others were doing wasn't entirely wrong but, respect was something people earned by their actions and every single woman that had ever been a Wrestle Angel earned it in some shape or form.

Trying to force others to give them their respect was just hollow praise, devoid of any real substance behind those "honeyed" words. Hollow respect like that meant absolutely nothing to the Light-Speed Fist.

[BlackAkuma]

And she didn’t get it. Maria wished she could say she was surprised, but then, what else could she expect from a meatheaded punchmonkey like this?

She sighed and brushed off her shoulder as the woman went into her rant, letting her get it all out of her system. It was the usual drivel, nothing more. People like this always had such lofty ideals and thoughts about the business, and it was why they never seemed to get anywhere. They needed an education, and luckily for them, she was nothing if not an excellent teacher.

”Sachiko. Dear. That’s nothing but nonsense.” She waved it off and shook her head. ”That kind of respect is useless. It’s not filling your bank account, it’s not getting you title matches, it’s doing nothing for you. What you need - really need - in LAW is someone to watch your back. To make sure things go the way you need them to. The outside edge that only we can provide.”

Maria stepped back to the corner as the referee made her way between them, looking ready to kick this off now that the pleasantries were over. ”But it’s okay, I understand - you need a little demonstration. I’m more than willing to provide.”

[Mart-Kos]

Sachiko could only sigh as Maria tried to tell her the "Pros" of joining her little team. Sure, having a bit of extra coin in her paycheck was nice, and getting title matches always put a nice little smile on her face, her numerous fights in the boxing circuits could attest to that. But what Sachiko really disliked about it all was how Maria and her little crew wanted to go about it, by trampling on anyone and everyone that wasn't on board with it. That's one thing Sachiko could never get behind. Sachiko stepped back to her corner as she caught sight of the referee getting between them to start the match from the corner of her eye.

A "demonstration", huh? Yeah, sure. Let's see if your time with your new friends made you any tougher. Sorry in advance if I break your nose, again." Sachiko said as the referee rang the bell and officially begun the match. Sachiko advanced out of the corner, arms up and at the ready to see what Maria would do first.

[BlackAkuma]

Well, at least they were done with the bollocks and onto the meat of things, now. Maria would count that as a small win.

Of course, it meant that she now had to take on one of the deadliest strikers in Wrestle Angels’ history, a prospect that did not fill her with even the tiniest bit of confidence. She had seen what this woman could do in the ring, the bloody noses and cracked teeth she’d left behind, and the Mad Scientist had no aims on joining that list. If she could get her down, she could dominate her, but making that happen was the real challenge.

Gritting her teeth, she did her best to push the doubts out of her head and marched forward, bringing her arms to try and bait Sachiko into a collar-and-elbow tie-up. It might not have seemed like much, but the more she made this into a wrestling match and not a boxing match, the better her chances would be.