Subverted Expectations (For Luncha)

[Vc0m]

In the aftermath of her match against Kamen Moon, Clara, unmasked for now, sat at the doctor's office, getting checked out for any possibly injuries from the match...

...but, very shortly after, the tall man in a thin white coat informed her that she had little lasting damage from the match, with a couple of days rest being the only thing required to heal any pain she felt at the moment.

GASTER chirply nodded, as the pain in her back faded away, leaving only a slight headache after Moon's finishing Triangle Choke.

With the required check up complete, Clara put her mask back on, heading to the reception of LAW's medbay...

...and inquiring about where Kamen Moon was getting checked out.

The heroine of Moon targeted both GASTER's head and spine, so by the end, while both hurt, it didn't seem like pain was going to last...

...by contrast, GASTER mercilessly attacked her foe's arm, stomping and cranking it in every possible way, practically bringing the debutee to the verge of tears from pain.

She was in a similar predicament once upon a time, with people beating her and making her tap out in her native England more often than she would've liked to admit. Though there were a couple of wins here and there, most of the time her matches ended with her, sobbing face down on the canvan, lost...

...but, more often than not, there were also people helping her to get back up. People believing in her and rooting for her, like her trainers, or friends she made in some of the promotions. While wrestling had some of the most intense rivalries compared to most sports...it also could have much friendlier rivalries than other sports, with 2 people trying to tear each other head off one day being sparring partners in a gym the next.

Though she did meet quite a few people who didn't share this worldview, Clara knew that making friends was always better than making enemies, both in long and short term.

And she would rather make sure that her and Moon had no bad blood between the two of them for what the 2 did to each other tonight.

Upon getting Moon's location in the LAW Arena's medbay, GASTER, with her mask on, nervously walked towards the room where the heroine of Moon was getting checked out...

...and calmly knocked on the door, while asking: "H-hello? Is Kamen Moon in this room?"

[Luncha_Libre]

Kamen Moon winced when the arena doctor took and rotated her arm. The doctor was only testing Moon's range of motion, but even the slow rotation of the arm was enough to cause the young woman fairly serious pain.

The last thirty minutes or so had been a rollercoaster for the rookie wrestling heroine. The intensity of in-ring competition, Moon's first in front of a screaming, packed arena, was a high like nothing she'd ever experienced in her life. Moon and her opponent GASTER had put everything on the line in that ring- their bodies, their pride- and thrown everything into that contest. The fact that it ended in victory for Kamen Moon gave her an elation she didn't think she could ever match, living up to the image of the heroine she'd had in her head since the first night she'd last up her boots in training.

As soon as that moment wore off, however, with the bright lights and the fan chants still raining down on her, reality set in. The adrenaline had been enough to keep much of the pain at bay, but it came flooding in when things were over.

Every inch of Moon's slender body ached, as she walked up the ramp and went into the backstage hallway. Clutching her arm, which GASTER had targeted with brutal effectiveness in the match, Moon followed the road agents' directions back to the nurse's station to be seen to.

Somehow, the rookie had managed to peel off her sweat and tear soaked ring gear with one good arm, changing into her workout clothes before seeing the nurse. Moon kept her mask on, still unwilling to give up her persona. The staff looked her over, determined that there was no permanent damage, and began setting out to examine the extent of the harm and alleviate the pain.

Kamen Moon sat patiently and silently, as the nursing staff did their work. Sitting stoically, Moon thought back on the match. Her trainers had always told her to take things in the ring seriously, but not too seriously. In professional wrestling, competitors tried to beat each other, but not hurt each other. They were opponents, not enemies. They told Moon that it wasn't a "real" fight, they told her. Pride was on the line, yes, and you could always get hurt, but nobody was trying to kill you in a professional wrestling match. You weren't fighting for your life.

Moon always halfway toned those lessons out. For the self-styled heroine, her pride was her life. Her self-image as a superheroine was everything to her, especially when she thought about what it could mean for the fans. She would risk it all, to live up to that ideal.

Moon shook her head, snapped out of her reverie when she heard a voice calling her name. Her jaw dropped open when she saw the Shadow Lord herself, GASTER, at the edge of the room!

[Vc0m]

Once GASTER got a positive answer from the doctor inside the room, she carefully opened the door, to see the doctor in question checking the Lunar Heroine's arm...

...and Kamen Moon herself, with a surprised expression on her face, likely confused as per why the villainous Shadow Lord would be visiting her:

"Um...h-hi!", she would say to Moon...

...before her mind would immediately draw blank on what to say next...

Although she felt kindness was the way to go in wrestling, it always felt awkward talking to her opponents after a particularly brutal match...and she knew that from experience.

Still, as she awkwardly stood at the edge of the room, silent for five seconds, she knew she wouldn't get anywhere if kept being silent for longer. As such, she quickly found a way to try and break the ice.

Stepping towards Moon, she would respectfully say to her:

"C-congratulations on winning your first match!"

[Luncha_Libre]

Kamen Moon had no idea what to expect, upon realizing that GASTER was now standing across the doctor's office from her. Moon's heart raced a bit, halfway anticipating some kind of attack from the Shadow Lord, now that she was so vulnerable!

Still, there was nothing malicious in GASTER's voice, as she greeted the Heroine of Moon. Slowly, Moon bit her lip. Her confusion was evident, even beneath her mask. She arched her spine, putting her chest forward a bit and trying to sit up as straight as she could. Sub-consciously, the lightweight wrestler wanted to look as big and tough as possible, even in her compromised position.

Still, all of the theatrical malice of GASTER seemed to be gone. The girl who came into the office was a far cry from the mysterious masked madwoman who had put her here in the first place. The sting in Kamen Moon's arm reminded her of that fact, even as GASTER stammered a little.

"Thank you," Moon said, accepting the congratulations. "It certainly was a challenge." Moon rubbed her shoulder with her good arm, still sizing GASTER up. "You made certain of that. Guess I won't be joining all those fallen heroines you talked about, after all, huh?"

[Vc0m]

Clara was smiling after her mask at Moon wanting to be as tough as she could to the now-friendly Shadow Lord, despite the fact that she was still hurt in the aftermath of her fight.

"Heh...yeah. Might've gone overboard on the number of heroes I have defeated...", the Brit would say, rubbing the back of her head with her right hand, happy to be able to have a friendly chat with her opponent.

Still, she couldn't help but be concerned for the girl's arm. It was a while since she tried going for a limb and not letting up on it in a match, thinking it was a great strategy in a Submission Match such as this. With Moon's perseverance, she didn't expect to work on it as badly as she did:

"I-I am sorry for what I did to your arm...I wanted to win...but I really shouldn't have pushed it to the limit as I did..."

[Luncha_Libre]

Kamen Moon was still holding her aching arm defensively, wnating to make it as clear as possible that her guard was still up. That she was still ready for anything. Anything she could do, to hide the fact that any sort of conflict right now would likely end with the Heroine of Moon getting absolutely destroyed ...

However, GASTER sounded ... completely different. Like an entirely different person. Right now, the Shadow Lord was being downright human. Beneath her mask, Kamen Moon's surprise was clear as day. She just couldn't get over how surreal this all was.

"I guess that's what we all do," Moon said, after GASTER said her piece. "Try our best to win, go to whatever lengths are necessary. Especially when it's more important than anything to ... to win. To prove you're the fighter the fans believe you are.

"The doctor said my arm will be fine, after awhile ..." Moon said, looking from the limb to GASTER. "Can I ask you something, thought? W-why are you here? I wasn't expecting a visit from the Shadow Lord ... or that it would be like this ...?"

[Vc0m]

GASTER saw Moon was still tense as she walked up closer to her, the girl likely not trusting the Shadow Lord after everything she did to her in the match...

...but the more she spoke with the Lunar Heroine, the more trusting the masked wrestler was of the Brit, Clara nodding at Moon's words about doing their best in the matches, with end justifying the means to win.

When asked about why she was here, Clara would explain:

"I don't...usually get so serious for a match. I try to be "the villain" and the like, but I have never try to seriously hurt someone in a match. Despite the nature of wrestling and it's feuds, I don't wish to have bad blood with other people. At worst, a fierce rivalry, but never animosity. I just want to make sure there is none between us after tonight..."

[Luncha_Libre]

Kamen Moon felt a lump rising in her throat. GASTER seemed non-aggressive, even friendly, but the masked heroine couldn't let her guard down. Wrestlers attacked one another backstage all the time, and in her current condition Moon feared she had no chance of fending her off. Still, she had to hear the girl out. Even if she was the Shadow Lord.

Moon nodded along as GASTER made her case, listening attentively and politely. Beneath her mask, though, the heroine's eyes widened. The idea was surprising, that the 'Shadow Lord' was an act. In the match, Kamen Moon had been so convinced of GASTER's evil, of the direct threat to Kamen Moon's well being, the thought that it was an act ...

"I see," Moon said, blushing a little by the time Clara trailed off. "I-I didn't even realize ... The fight itself was very real, but the 'Shadow Lord' that I was so scared of ... that was all ... just an act? A character?" Moon looked down at the floor, before looking back up at Clara with wide, trembling eyes.

"You're the greatest actress I've ever met!" she beamed, astonishment in her voice.

[Vc0m]

Moon listened to GASTER fairly attentively, and thankfully, it seemed like she was managing to get the girl's trust! She saw her blush at her words, getting a bit of a blush on her cheeks under her mask herself:

"Y-yeah, pretty much, haha...this is really the only way I can wrestle right now...", she would explain, scratching the back of her head...

Right as Kamen Moon had some words of praise for Clara!

She was actually taken a back by the compliment. She knew that her taking acting classes helped quite a bit...

...but best actress ever?

"Ahahaha...thank you! Dunno about "the greatest actress", but I do my best!", she chirply said under the mask.

[Luncha_Libre]

Moon sat back, truly impressed. The amazement was clear on her face, like her brain was still trying to process that the nice young woman visiting her in the medical offices was, in fact, the same one who had been threatening her with certain and absolute doom earlier in the evening! Thinking back to how much fear GASTER had put through her, back in the match, and now ...

"Okay, well, I guess to be honest, I don't know that many actresses," Kamen Moon admitted, a little embarrassed. "At least, that I'm aware of ... hm ..."

Before she could get too lost in that thought, however, Moon snapped out of it. She returned her attention to Clara, trying to shift herself off the doctor's table and into a more conversationally-friendly stance.

"Wait," Moon said, another thought striking her, "why would this be 'the only way you could wrestle,' Ms. GASTER?"