Puppets and Trolling: Matilda Jacobs [D] vs. Hana Choi

[Pegasus]

Match Type: Standard
Rules: Winner is declared by pinfall, submission, count-out, DQ, or knockout

Matilda Jacobs

Jessie Alexander

Odiva

Matilda sat on a storage crate waiting for the ring announcer to start up the introductions for her debut match. Odiva sat off with her back facing the concrete wall currently not operated so she just stared blankly and had her mouth wide open. She would be acting as Matilda’s “manager” of the night, but Jessie also wanted to be out there with her new friend. They had a shared love of steampunk and machinery when Jessie met her in Arkansas when they started their careers. Sarabeth was busy sleeping back at the dorms so Jessie felt she could be a force of comfort for Matilda.

“I hope you’re not too nervous. I know me and Sarabeth were, but we actually did pretty well,” Jessie broke the ice to her puppet master friend.

“Haha….I’m good, Jess. Not that I’m nervous and was fiddling around with my puppets and talking to myself of how I was nervous for the last six hours when I was told I was going out there. I really hope I don’t get my butt whooped too badly, because I know I’m losing this match,” Matilda stated.

“Come on, Tilly. I know you’re nervous, but doubting yourself is just going to make it worse. At least get out there first and see who your opponent is,” Jessie encouraged her friend as she grabbed her hands.

“Ugh….I just didn’t expect to be thrown right into the ring. I haven’t even had a training class yet,” Matilda stated.

“I didn’t have one when it was my turn to debut with Sarabeth. I was actually taking on an Ostberg. It’s a good thing the other team were just as new as us, but they had good chemistry themselves. Maybe your opponent will be someone easy and is just as nervous as you are. Maybe they have a bad record,” Jessie suggested.

“Whatever the case, I better get going. I just never thought I’d get out here and be rushed towards the deep end literally the day after I got here. I haven’t even properly unpacked in my dorm,” Matilda explained.

“You got this. You got me here, anyway. Just be sure to do your best and I think the crowd will like your style,” Jessie encouraged her best friend with a wink and a shoulder rub.

Theme Song

Matilda would be ushered out by the backstage workers as Odiva popped out from behind the curtain first as Matilda worked her hand blowing kisses out to the crowd. She blushed a little bit seeing a packed arena cheering for her, but on the bright side, Sarabeth’s theme for her had a few people headbanging with rock signs in the air. Jessie patted her friend’s back as they made their way down the ramp.

“This is a singles match set for one-fall! Introducing first, representing the Young Lioness Program and being accompanied by Jessie Alexander, from Behind The Scenes, she is The Puppeteer, Matilda Jacobs!”

However, Matilda noticed that Odiva didn’t get her introduction so she cleared her throat ready to work her magic and get into character as she uses her puppet’s hand to wave off the audio crew. She motioned to the ring announcer as the crowd was a little confused and the ring announcer walked over leaning over the top rope. Matilda made Odiva motion for the mic the announcer was holding as Jessie walked down ringside to collect it and held it up to the puppet’s mouth. Matilda saw her cue to get on with it.

“Ahem….dearie, I believe you forgot someone. Allow me to do a PROPER introduction myself. Ladies and esteemed gentlemen, you are looking at one of the hottest prospects to hit this side of the globe. Being accompanied by myself, ODIVA THE MAGNIFICENT MANAGER, comes my very good friend and client. She shall slay her adversary and stop them in their tracks. She shall rise to the top of the mountains and scream her glorious battle cry. This is no ordinary young woman….SHE IS EXTRAVAGANT, BEAUTIFUL, and TALENTED IN ALL CARDINAL DIRECTIONS! THIS IS….wait for it….MATILDA JACOBS! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!” Matilda spoke in a regal and dramatic tone for Odiva as the crowd cheered hard for that introduction as Odiva blew out kisses to the crowd yet again.

Matilda felt a little less nervous after that demonstration of her abilities as she made her way to the apron using her free hand to grab the bottom rope. She lifted herself up and headed inside making sure to bow Odiva’s head as they both were inside. Jessie passed back the mic to the ring announcer and cheered for her new friend. Matilda walked around the ring still sweating some bullets as she inaudibly communicated with Odiva privately while they waited on the opponent.

[CaptainL]

If this was Matilda's chance to define herself for an audience seeing her for the first time, setting an impression as to what they could expect from her...she had certainly accomplished that! Right away, it was clear that she had something to bring to the table that set her apart from anyone else in LAW, let alone her fellow Young Lionesses. No one else had brought a puppet out to the ring, and they certainly hadn't had it introduce itself! When Odiva did the honors, no one knew what to expect, or how to respond. A few of the fans laughed at such a sight, while others looked on in bewilderment. But there were a fair few that cheered, too! Right away, Matilda was sending a message that she would stand apart from anyone else on the roster. And no one could deny her talents when it came to performance and throwing her voice. Already, she had cemented herself as a memorable addition to LAW. But the question remained on everyone's mind - her antics were one thing, but how was she going to wrestle? That would be answered in due time...

"And her opponent, from Incheon, South Korea - Hana Choi!!"

They thought, anyway.

...

At least...it was supposed to.

The announcer called out Matilda's opponent for the night. But what followed was silence. There were no flashy lights, no bombastic entrance music, and most glaringly, no one emerging triumphantly from behind the curtains. Everyone waited on when the next foot would drop, and the entrance would start, but it never did, leaving them staring at an empty stage. As the seconds ticked on, and there was no sign of Hana, a few of the fans murmured to one another, asking if she had gotten lost, or forgotten about her match. Some of them, familiar with the Korean's stunts, figured she had probably no-showed on purpose just to mess with them.

But little did everyone know, Hana was right here all along. Soon enough, the cameras wandered over to a girl in a hat with devil horns sitting in the front row, still applauding Odiva's speech.

"Woo! Yeah! Good one! Encore!" she called out, throwing a fist in the air. There was no doubt about it. This was the missing piece of the puzzle herself, Hana Choi!

Spoiler

As it grew apparent that Hana wasn't about to enter the ring any time soon, a crew member stepped up to her to whisper a few words into her ear. And at that, Hana jumped up, her eyes wide in shock. "Wait...really? Ohh, my god! That's right! I am Hana! Duh, how could I be so stupid!?" She struck at her forehead with the palm of her hand, then stepped over the barricade, heading to the ring. At this, the fans began to sigh with relief. At last, it seemed, the match was finally getting underway...

At least, they thought that, up until Hana suddenly froze in her tracks halfway to the ring. "Hey, wait a minute-! I can't wrestle like this! I need to go change!"

Hana turned and ran back to the entrance ramp, leaving a few of the fans groaning as she disappeared from sight. She was drawing out her entrance even more! At this point, it became clear to anyone who still doubted her that Hana was doing this on purpose. She was making every effort she could to prolong her entrance to the ring, wasting everyone's time in the process. To Hana, the very thought that she was causing everyone this much frustration was the funniest thing in the world; as she went to the locker rooms, she could hardly resist the urge to grin like an idiot. But more importantly, it would also no doubt throw Matilda off her game by forcing her to wait so long, making her that much more anxious and easy to distract when the match began. Considering this was her first match, it would no doubt hit her even harder.

Spoiler

Finally, Hana stepped out onto the entrance ramp - and still, she would take her time moving toward the ring. As though it were any other entrance, she struck a pose with her arms wide, and she slowly moved down the aisle striking poses and slapping high-fives, not even seeming to care that people were starting to boo her and telling her to get on with it. Finally, she rolled into the ring under the bottom rope, taking off her hat and jacket and tossing them not so gently to another crew member who was promptly hit in the face, and only then, as she rolled out her shoulders to limber herself up, did she lock eyes with Matilda, a smile crossing her face.

"Okay...NOW I'm ready!"

Spoiler

[Pegasus]

Matilda stared bewilderingly at Hana as she hopped the barricade and made her way back to the locker room to change. This was most likely her own gimmick: just stall and get reactions out of the crowd and her opponents. Make them feel frustrated and annoyed. One problem tho….Matilda pretty much made fun of people on the spot and was use to people kidding around with her trying to draw her reaction. Internet trolls existed for a reason and they were basically a fun thing to exploit. Like her uncle always said, with trolls, play them at their own game.

When Hana made her entrance, Matilda shrugged taking out her phone as she sat on the top rope just scrolling through her social media as Odiva looked on herself. Hana got in the ring throwing off her stuff and waited for Matilda to be ready herself. As the puppet gal looked up, she looked up boringly pocketing her phone.

“About time, young lady! How dare you make us wait! These good PEOPLE deserve a show!” Odiva stated, but Matilda held her back.

“I got this, Odiva. Wait….hang on, I just need to send some texts,” Matilda replied as she set Odiva on a corner post and took out her phone sending fast texts back to her friends back home.

[CaptainL]

Getting down into a stance, Hana readied herself for battle. It looked as though this match was finally going to start, much to the relief of many a fan in the crowd - no less Matilda herself, who was surely less than pleased about having to wait for her debut match to get on with. Hana bent at the knees, raising her hands and curling her fingers inward to prepare herself for a lockup. With a smirk on her face, she took a step forward, ready to engage her foe. But before she could make the first move...Matilda pulled a move out of Hana's own playbook, pulling out her phone!

Immediately, the fans audibly groaned. Just when it looked as though some action was finally going to happen, the match had been delayed once again! Hana stopped in her tracks, blinking a few times. At first, she was confused about what exactly Matilda was trying to do. But it didn't take long for the answer to dawn on her. Matilda had caught onto Hana's trolling attempts, and she was throwing them right back at her. No doubt she wanted Hana to get frustrated by her attempts to put the match off even further. Perhaps she even wanted Hana to take a step closer, putting her into range. Without a doubt, she was out to annoy the pink-haired girl by blowing her off.

So the best counter Hana could think of...was to not even care! After all, stalling was her plan in the first place. It wouldn't make much difference who was doing the stalling, and she was sure that in this case, playing by Matilda's game would just annoy her further when she refused to give her the reaction she wanted. It was trolling 101. Don't feed the trolls. Matilda had laid the bait...and the best thing Hana could do was ignore it.

Shrugging her shoulders, Hana held her back straight and took a step back. "Mmkay. That's fine. Keeping up with your friends is important," she said, looking off casually and whistling a tune. At this, the groans grew even louder and more frustrated. Was this match ever going to start!?

In fact, Hana looked back at her opponent with a devious grin on her face. If Matilda wanted a battle of wills, she'd give her one. If she was going to throw the next blow, it would be a psychological one. She bent down to slip off one of her boots, pulling off the garishly-striped sock underneath. She then slipped her boot back on and the sock over her arm - and, talking out the corner of her mouth in a deliberately unconvincing fashion, she flapped her fingers up and down to mimic it talking, turning it into a puppet of her own!

"Y'know, throwing your voice isn't even that hard," she said. "Anyone can do it, see?"

[Pegasus]

Matilda put her phone away giving it to Jessie and took off her pink jacket wrestling in her black tank top and jean shorts as Hana tried getting in her head by mimicking a sock puppet. Matilda playfully rolled her eyes and smirked shaking her head. She just yawned and put her hands behind her head getting ready to do something Hana wouldn’t see coming. She wanted to see real mimicry? She better be careful what she wished for.

“Anyone can do it, see?” Matilda asked in a similar voice and tone akin to Hana’s.

Some of the crowd had to stop their complaining and scratch their heads at what was going on. Matilda just made her voice sound like Hana’s….in an attempt to mock her! Some of the fans had to laugh their heads off seeing Hana fall right into that one and Matilda snickered to herself that she could go all day if Hana wanted a comedy war. Thankfully, the referee scolded both girls for stalling the start of this match before Matilda got hunched down ready for action. The referee looked at both girls and called for the bell.

DING! DING! DING!

[CaptainL]

Hana had tried to throw Matilda off her game by mocking her puppet act...but once again, it seemed as though the newcomer had it out to one-up her at her own game. Not long after Hana had spoken, she heard her own voice coming back at her! At this, she stopped in her tracks, glancing back and forth around the room. For all she knew that Matilda was a skilled puppeteer and showwoman, she hadn't quite anticipated the full breadth of her talents. Her impression of her opponent was practically flawless, and it gave the Korean girl pause, trying to reason out what exactly she was hearing. When she looked back at Matilda, her eyebrow raised in curiosity. Even she had to admit...that was pretty good.

Regardless, they couldn't put the match off any longer; the referee was getting on their case about that. It looked as though, at long last, things were actually getting off the ground! A few fans breathed a sigh of relief as the match actually looked to be going places. Following her foe's lead, Hana got down into a stance, her eyes narrowing at Matilda as she watched for just what the brunette might be capable of. It was her first match, so all bets were off as to what she could do. But whatever the case might have been...Hana had to be ready! If Matilda could keep her on her toes this much before any blows had been thrown, it was anyone's guess as to how she would wrestle!

Keeping a close eye on Matilda, Hana crept in toward her foe. One thing some fans would notice was that she still hadn't taken the sock puppet off her hand. But now she would strike - as she came closer to Matilda, she would swing at her chest for a chop, with the hand still inside her sock!

[Pegasus]

Matilda gasped as the chop connected to her chest as she was a little confused! The chop had some push and force behind it, but at the same time, the sock was fluffy enough to barely even faze her. Was Hana really thinking that would’ve been effective or was she playing shits and giggles again? Regardless, Matilda grabbed the arm with the sock on it and proceeded to shove it right into Hana’s mouth! The crowd had to recoil in disgust, but some of them laughed as Hana had to now chew on her own dirty laundry. Matilda then went behind Hana and locked her in the Cobra Clutch thrashing her around while Hana seemed to give herself a Modified Mandible Claw!

The fans cheered regardless as they wanted to see Hana get some comeuppance for how long she made them wait. Hana did waste all their time to unnerve Matilda, but now she was getting some good ol’ karma!

[CaptainL]

Hana had a whole routine planned out for this. She knew that the sock wouldn't really make her chop hurt any more, but that wasn't the point. She was still out to confuse her opponent and make her feel like Hana didn't take her seriously, goading her into making a move she'd regret. But if she could get away with it, she had plans to stall this match even longer by pulling the referee into an argument about whether or not a sock counted as a foreign object if it was part of her ring gear, no doubt only wearing the already strained patience of many a fan even more thin. Matilda, however, had other intentions. She was done messing around - she was about to give Hana a piece of her mind, as she yanked the pink-haired girl's sock off her arm and shoved it directly into her mouth!

At first, Hana was taken aback by her tactics. Even she wasn't one to think of such a manuever. She blinked a few times, staring back at her foe in bewilderment, before she began to gag and groan at the bad taste in her mouth she was left with. Her brow furrowed in disgust. And things were about to get even worse, as Matilda twisted her arm around to bend her elbow backward with a cobra clutch!

If Hana's predicament had been unfortunate before, now she had the pain of the hold to deal with! She shook her head in desperation as her groans grew muffled into the fabric in her mouth. Finally, with a few more coughs, she managed to spit it out onto the ground, taking a moment to gasp for air. She couldn't draw in a lot when Matilda was still holding off the pressure of the cobra clutch, but it was something. It allowed her to recenter herself, and that was all she needed.

Once Hana got some air back into her lungs, she would just as quickly lock her eyes on Matilda with a glare aimed over her shoulder. Her knee had begun to bend low against the pressure - but now, she would push herself back up, trying to force her way to her feet now that she found the strength to. If she could do that, she would throw a kick behind her to try and daze her opponent before ducking down forward to bowl her over her back!

[Pegasus]

Matilda thrashed Hana around like a rag doll as the usual troll couldn’t believe this. Someone was trying to outroll her! Matilda wouldn’t stand for Hana’s antics, but she also knew giving Hana a reaction would only hurt her in this match. Thankfully, her other profession gave her the powers of mimicry and opportunity to meet Hana on an equal level. However, Hana still had her wrestling prowess to fall back on as Matilda felt the kick to her knees. Hana ducked down performing a judo throw on Matilda, but the puppeteer simply rolled through to one knee.

“Well, I guess you’re not the big, bad troll under the bridge this time, Hana. I would frankly say I’m better at your own gimmick than you are!” Matilda strongly declared with her arms crossed.

[CaptainL]

The kick had been enough to daze Matilda, knocking her off her game. From there, Hana was able to duck down, bowling the brunette over her back and sending her toppling to the floor. But Matilda was ready for that, too - she simply rolled with the momentum, tumbling to a halt. Hana could live with that - she would have plenty of other opportunities to take Matilda down; the match was still young, after all. What she was less content with was when Matilda chose this moment to trade a few insults!

A couple of laughs and "oooooh"'s could be heard from the crowd at Hana's comment, but as the Korean pushed herself back on her knees, she faced her opponent with a glare and crossed her arms. "What!?" She had to admit, Matilda was clever and inventive when it came to wrestling. She was doing whatever she could to push the boundaries of the style and to wage psychological warfare against her foes, all of which seemed right up Hana's alley. She was sure that they could learn a lot from one another's tactics, and if Matilda got a little more experience, Hana could see a potential team-up in their future. But right now, that wasn't in the cards - right now, Matilda saw fit to mock how effective Hana was at her own game, building herself up as the superior of the two! Hearing that made Hana's eyes narrow into a glare - she wasn't about to let Matilda just get away with that one!

"Heeeey, now!!" Climbing back to her feet, Hana began to storm forward. "You watch that mouth of yours! I ought to-" As she took another step, though, Hana ground to a stop. If Matilda was trying to stoke her aggression, and goading her into making a head-on assault, this could very well be a trap; she might already be posed to spring a counter on whatever Hana was about to throw at her! Generally, people weren't as good at making decisions when they were pissed off. That was something Hana knew well, considering it was what motivated most of her style. But because of that, she could recognize when she risked falling into those same pitfalls. She was going to have to approach this from a different angle - but a sly grin soon came to her face. It didn't take her long to figure it out.

"...weeeeeell, I ought to call a lawyer, because I came first, and you doing my gimmick is copyright infringement, so there! Hah! Yeah, okay, sure, this is only my second match, but I've been around longer than you have...in catering, but it counts! Oh, and you're a Young Lioness anyway, so you being here is, like, BECAUSE you don't have as much experience. So they would DEFINITELY rule in my favor. I don't know why I'm going into this much detail anyway. Lawyers will do anything if you pay them enough. Not that I have that kind of money, but I wish I did!"

Hana was, essentially, prattling on in a long-winded monologue about nothing. Her hope was that Matilda would be distracted by it - so much so that she wouldn't pay enough attention to what her opponent was setting up. Because the whole time she was speaking, Hana was steadily drawing closer and closer to Matilda. And as she came close, she would suddenly whip up a superkick aimed at the newcomer's jaw!

"WHOOPS!"