Refusal to Stay Idle (For BlackAkuma)

[Bare]

LAW was almost always electric during their shows, but even more so after the successful completion of the year long Apex event that saw the crowning of the first official LAW Openweight Champion Astrid Arvidsson. It wasn't just her though Kyoko Akan had also been crowned as the middleweight champion through the event, not to mention the various epic matches that had taken place all in the effort to get noticed for the championship titles that were on the line. One of the people that had put on said matches was backstage right now waiting to head out, with a uncharacteristically serious expression on her face, usually only reserved for big matches.

Spoiler

Immediately after the music started with the cracks of lightning going off the fans immediately responded loudly and heavily as they recognized it and the woman it belonged too. Especially upon seeing the outfit she was raring. It was the newest and arguably one of her coolest to date, especially with the extra kimono and mask that came along with it as she made her way down, adding to the seriousness that seemed present on Alizeh Midori's face.

Spoiler

Making her way down the ramp with a controlled and measured gait, nodding in acknowledgement to the fans in the front row Alizeh would enter the ring with a noticeably more calm demeanor than what she normally would do so with. Staying by the ropes for a extra moment to receive a microphone from a stagehand Alizeh would remove the half mask on her face while stepping to the center of the ring before raising the mic up to her lips. "People of LAW! How are we doing tonight!" She asked loudly earning a loud reaction from the fans in response to what she said making her crack her first smile since before saying her next words.

Letting the fans get the cheers and excitement out of their system for a few moments before she started up. "Given what I have in mind I'll try and keep this brief." She said the seriousness returning to her face again as she spoke. "Officially speaking Apex ended not to long ago, and while I came up short in winning gold, I'd like to think I certainly made my case for it. By going above and beyond with the amount of qualifiers, with how far I went in my Apex match, and even past that with arguably the match of the night at We Are LAW 6! Shout out to you Kate by the way, love ya babe!" Alizeh said, her voice rising as she spoke, before breaking into a light flirty tone and wink towards the camera before returning to a more serious expression.

Taking a deep breath while letting the fans a moment to breathe in her words she would start up again. "With all that being said... I'm. Not. Done." She said, looking as serious as can be with a determined expression on her face. "Given the frequency of my matches, and with how taxing a lot of them were, I was advised to 'take it easy'." She said making a mocking air quote gesture at those last few words before continuing. "I gave myself a few days off between matches and while they were nice, got into some trouble and all that, I got bored real quick, went practically crazy which is exactly why I'm out here. I refuse to stay idle. Not when there's more chances to show out, when there's more opportunities to show what I'm capable, when there's more people to fight. Because that's why I'm here, and that's why anyone that really wants to be is here. To fight!" She said fiercely with a determined glare to the camera that immediately got the crowd just as fired up, cheering in response.

Shifting her gaze up to the entrance ramp she would roll her neck while raising the mic once more. "So I'll say this once to ANY woman back there right now. My blood is boiling for a fight, and anyone thats back there that feels the same way come out now so we can fight! I refuse to stay idle, and I refuse to back down so let's go!" She yelled proudly and fiercely earning another pop from the fans before all eyes fixed on the entrance, wandering just who would come out from the back to answer Alizeh's challenge.

[BlackAkuma]

Alizeh wouldn’t have to wait long for an answer. Only a few seconds passed before the lights came up, and a certain

came belting out. It was a tune that most wouldn’t be familiar with - after all, the only time it had been before was in a dark match. But those in the know, the ones who followed the backstage scuttlebutt and kept up with all the rumors, the ones who scoured Youtube and watched matches that never made the official cut, they knew exactly who the tune belonged to and who would be coming out from between the curtains.

A woman emerged from the shadows, standing tall at the top of the ramp, one hand on her hips and a microphone in her hand. She wasn’t dressed to wrestle, clad only in a part of long, brown baggy cargo pants, a black bomber jacket and a white LAW t-shirt. She could’ve been a fan - except most fans wouldn’t have been built like she was. She stood tall, nearing six feet, and the jacket couldn't hide her defined musculature. She kept her short blonde hair tied up, clearing her face, so she could stare down towards the ring with no obstruction with her blazing blue eyes.

Whoever she was, she looked ready to wrestle, even if her outfit didn’t show it.

After a moment, she brought the microphone to her mouth and spoke as she pointed down towards the ring. ”Alizeh Midori, I accept your challenge.”

Good. Got that out. Only one problem.

”...who are you?”

Valerie’s closed her eyes as that question rang out from the audience, followed by laughter and a ‘Who Are You?’ chant. Right, she’d taken for granted that she was still an unknown entity in the company. While her match with Ryu had made waves and got some people talking, not every paid attention to the dirtsheets. She’d been in such a rush to answer Alizeh’s challenge, so eager to take out someone with this kind of pedigree, that it had slipped her mind.

It didn’t help that she hadn't even shown up to wrestle - she had just come to watch the show take some notes. Even if she had been set up with a match, she’d asked management to keep her with male opponents for the start, wanting to establish herself in that division. But some opportunities couldn't be passed up. Alizeh was a big name in LAW, to say nothing of the legacy behind her name.

She could almost hear her birth mother, Hailey Cotes, giving her grief about this. ‘Always show up ready to wrestle!’ She’d be hearing about this on the next family checkup call.

”Right, sorry, introductions. I’ve never done this promo thing before. Bare with me.” She coughed, clearing up her lungs. ”My name is Valerie Dolores-Cote Wells. My mother - one of them - is the second Valley Doll. I’m the third.” She pointed at her chest, which would’ve worked better if she wore her outfit. ”I’m new here, but I’ll take you on. Just give me a little while to get suited up, and I’ll come back and we can go.” She sighed and rubbed the back of her head, trying hard not to look too nervous. ”Standard match, right?”

…god, this was awkward. She’d always sucked at public speaking.

[Bare]

Waiting for a minute or two for someone, anyone to answer her challenge Alizeh wouldn't be disappointed as soon enough music would play and a certain blonde stepped through the curtain, proudly answering her challenge with a head held high! Unfortunately the delivery and confidence of the person doing so wasn't met very well by the fans who didn't know the relatively new face and showed with chants of "who are you." Something that visibly upset Alizeh as she shook her head with a tsk before focusing back on the blonde as she formally introduced herself in a bit of a.. clunky way but not bad, especially for someone who, by her own admission hadn't done them much before.

Raising the mic to her lips after she was sure that Valerie was done Alizeh would give a nod. "Heh, no worries Val, can I call you Val?" Alizeh asked and regardless of an answer would continue. "Honestly you answered a big challenge and for that alone I'mma give you props." Alizeh said, a little bit of a mischievous glint in her eyes and the smallest hints of excitement tugging on her lips. "But first off... Let me admit that I'm a fan, both of your mom and you." She said, this causing the crowd to murmur a bit, the slight admiration in Alizeh's voice helping to warm them on the relatively unknown wrestler before them.

Smirking just a bit wider as she saw this Alizeh decided to throw her soon to be opponent a bone. "Yeah that's right, like she said she's the third in a line of wrestlers, just like me in fact which is what makes me even more excited!" Alizeh yelled out, her voice booming with exuberance showing the genuine excitement that was blossoming at the thought of this match. "Now while I don't fault you guys for not seeing it, do yourselves a favor and watch her kicking Ryu's ass, it was pretty awesome." Alizeh said once again putting over Valley and now getting some outright cheers and chants going!

Approaching the ropes and pushing up on them Alizeh would bare her teeth in an out right ecstatic smile. "Honestly you're exactly the type of person I wanted to come out here and take this challenge." As she said this her eyes would squint just slightly in competitive drive and anticipation of some heated action that was soon to take place. "So trust me, I'll wait as long as it takes, get changed, call your mom for some advice, get HYPED." Alizeh said her face brightening up like a billboard as she said this, before pulling back just a bit as she wanted her next words to really get across.

"Especially cause I'mma go talk to management... there's no main event set for tonight... but you and me? I think we can fill that spot just right, WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK!?" Alizeh yelled into the mic before holding it into the air for the crowd who cheered in response, sufficiently hyped after Alizeh gassed up Valley Doll and just what this match could be. "Also yeah.. standard, if all that sounds good to you." She asked rhetorically, the glint and excitement in her eyes very clearly showing she didn't care what match type it would be, no matter what she'd see it in the main event!

[BlackAkuma]

Valerie had long ago decided not to invest too much into ‘crowd-pleasing’. While she wasn’t out to specifically tick them off, she had never been a people person, and she wrestled in a style that wasn’t designed to get applause. She didn’t have catchphrases or eye-catching spots like her mothers, and while she might have been physically capable of doing some wilder things in the ring, like moonsaults and springboards, she never saw much of the point. She was out to win, and she didn’t get extra points for looking stylish as she did so. That was more Garfield’s thing, not hers.

That being said, it was a little hard not to take the audience’s reaction in a hard way. She’d knew that something like this would happen, sooner or later, and that she couldn't avoid the microphone forever. Just sucked to have those fears confirmed. Maybe it wouldn’t have hurt to do as Silver Ace had suggested and take a public speaking class, just to make sure she was at least confident enough to get her point across.

Fortunately for her, Alizeh responded as best as she could’ve hoped for. Many wrestlers would’ve taken the opportunity to give her a dressing down, make fun of her, score some cheap points. This woman seemed above that, though - not only did she give Valerie some props for her dark match, not only did she accept her as a challenger, but she also seemed poised to put them in the top spot for the night - Valerie was surprised to learn that they didn’t already have a main event planned, seemed like a weird thing for booking to do, but she wasn’t about to complain.

”I…” She took a deep breath and nodded as the weight of the moment truly came down on her. This sort of thing could skyrocket her career straight out of the gate and lead to ample opportunities. She didn’t want things laid out on her lap because of her name, and this would be a great way to get ahead on her own merits.

”Good, great.” She nodded, finding her confidence and standing up straight. Alizeh was dead on - she would need to call her parents for some advice quickly, see if they could give her anything good to use, and adequately psyche herself up. ”I’ll see you in the ring.”

Not the most emphatic note to leave on, but it would have to do. Valerie gave Alizeh a respectful bow, then hurriedly made her way back behind the curtains.

[Bare]

Alizeh had come out to make a challenge, to show what she was capable of and most important of all to remind anyone at the top of the ladder what they had coming for them. All she needed was someone to answer her challenge and hope that it was someone who could give her the challenge she was hoping for.

Thankfully the one that showed up was Valley Doll III, someone strong and skilled and on the way up n this company and with a similar background to her to boot. Just the type of person that she wanted to fight and she would insure it benefited the blonde just as much as it benefitted Alizeh herself as she stared across the ramp into the azure eyes of her opponent after getting her agreement to the match.

Nodding in response to her Alizeh would grin once more at her. "Sounds like a plan then." She said before raising her voice a bit for her final words. "See you in the main event!" She yelled, reminding everyone of her promise for this match as the crowd cheered loudly in response before Alizeh exited the ring to head to the back and talk to the officials, determined to follow through on her words.

End