Proving We're Stars!

[CaptainL]

Yukino Fuyumi was excited. Not only would she be opening tonight's broadcast with a special announcement - itself an honor that told her that she and Nashi were bound to be going places in the wrestling world - it was an announcement that was near and dear to her heart. She couldn't deny she was nervous - her stomach was full of butterflies, as a matter of fact. This would be the first time she was going to cut an official promo in LAW, and she had a tall order in front of her if her first promo was going to be read with so many eyes on her. But when she looked back at Nashi, she smiled, and her nerves were put at ease. She knew she always had her best friend to count on to support her through her matches, even when she was sure she was in over her head. This would surely be no exception.

At last, as their music began to play, Yukino nodded to Nashi before she stepped through the curtains. A burst of cheers greeted the two idols as they emerged; Yukino blushed at the attention she was getting, but she still raised her hand to wave to the fans, blowing them a few kisses on the way down. While she was acting in such an official capacity, she was dressed in a sleeveless black dress with a plunging neckline; she wouldn't deny that it was more formal than she was used to, but from the reception she was getting, she was sure she was pulling the look off well! Coming to the ring, Yukino stepped through the ropes to take her place, watching over her shoulder to make sure Nashi had caught up to her before she began. "Oh, gosh..." she whispered to herself, seeing the whole arena direct their attention toward her. All that attention was intimdating. But she knew that she had plenty of fans waiting to see what she had to say, and she wasn't about to let them down!

Clearing her throat, Yukino stood a little straighter as she took the microphone. "That's right, everyone - the Idol Dragons have a special announcement to make tonight! You know that Nashi and I have been making an unforgettable impression in the ring..." She bowed her head a little as their fans cheered louder. "...but make no mistake, we haven't forgotten about where we started. We made our name as idols, and we don't intend to forget that. We want to dominate in the ring and on the charts - and in fact, ever since we came to LAW, our albums have been selling like wildfire! It's thanks to our success as wrestlers that we're seeing even more success as idols. The same fans who cheer us on in the arenas want to support us in the music stores and the merch tables, and when I see how dedicated all of you are to keeping our dream alive through your contributions..." She grinned to Nashi. "...it never fails to put a smile on my face."

"Which is why I'd like to announce the release of the Idol Dragons' new photobook! We just saw the final product, and I've never been happier. This is our first big release since coming to LAW, and it's such an honor to know we can put our best foot forward to the fans who helped us reach where we are now. But don't take my word for it...take a look what's on the cover!"

Yukino reached into a bag and pulled out a copy of their new photobook - one proudly displaying the two Idol Dragons standing back to back, in the same pose they assumed leading into their matches! At the sight of such an image, the cheers grew even louder, working the arena up into a fever of excitement! Yukino's eyes watered a little, thinking of how much their fans loved her. But she stood tall and puffed out her chest. She wanted to put her best face forward for them - she had to be strong!

Spoiler

"So, for all of you who have supported us this far...I just wanted to say, thank you. Thank you for making this all possible!"

[SRG]

Tonight was one of the biggest honors of Nashi’s life. The higher ups at law told the idol they would be the opening for the broadcast! Nashi was dressed in an identical pink sleeveless dress with a plunging neckline. She would twirl around in the mirror before turning to Yukino. “Man Yukino you should wear black more often” She giggled before walking over to her partner and putting her arm around her. Nashi didn’t want to admit it, but she felt nervous this was their first promo on law and it a big one. She turned and said”Let’s go and Yukino I’ll let you start us off they think I’m the star but in my eyes I view us as equals” She smiled happily at her friend as they began to walk backstage.


Their music started to play as they emerged to a swarm of cheers. Nashi used her free hand to wave and blow kisses to the crowd. The audience saw they’re dresses and began to give them wolf whistles and applause. “Man Yukino maybe we should wear these dresses to every match” She giggled tweaking to her partner as the idol dragons would soon find themselves at the ring.


Nashi would step up the steel chairs and put one leg through so she can bend down and get into the ring. Nashi would let Yukino start them off, Nashi listened to Yukino and smiled, she could tell that Yukino despite being the winter idol had a burning fire in her. Nashi started to tear up a bit and bowed alongside her, once Yukino revealed the photobook Nashi was more excited to speak up. “I wanna throw in my own two cents, I know I’m the daughter of a wrestling champion a pop star….. but in all honesty…. I couldn’t have done thus without Yukino” She turned her head to her friend with a smile”I was a knucklehead and could barely solve any math problems but Yukino helped me and in all honesty Yukino is the best friend and tag partner a girl like me could have. Ohh and the best part is all you boys get to see her in a lovely bikini!” She shouted at the end before beginning to chuckle. Nashi meant every word she said but if she continue she would begin to break out into tears and had to find a way to stop it. Nashi finished her part by raising Yukino’s arm in the air to the applause of the crowd.

[Highfly]

Lauren and Peggy were backstage watching the women they had both recently defeated in the ring acting like they were the greatest thing to happen o LAW. As Nashi and Yukino were out in the ring soaking up the cheers the duo in Irish Oldschool were backstage relegated to struggling to get ring time at all let alone matches that were televised.

As Nashi and Yukino were wrapping up the music of Irish Oldschool played with both Lauren and Peggy emerging out into the arena with mics in their hands. "Well well, look at this two! Everyone loves the pretty singers in the wrestling world even if they lose matches." Peggy said as she shook her head, pacing up top back and forth.

Lauren held her mic up and looked out to the crowd before speaking. "I have nothing against either of your personally.... but knowing that the two of us have wrestled for years struggling to get noticed only to have to struggle again for any sort of televised matches it burns a bit. We work our butts off, we come out and wrestle more matches than most women in LAW only to have the crowd and brass boo us out even when we win between those ropes!" Lauren said as the crowd predictably booed her.

"Yeah, we ain't skinny little pretty faces. We ain't some sort of buff gym rats. We are oldschool grapplers who get things done! We know who we are even if the fans here refuse to give us this sort of love!" Peggy said pointing in the ring at Nashi and Yukino. "You two don't know how good ya have it... just showing up without spending years traveling in the indies wrestling for barely any money. Ya sing and show up to a big contract with immediate fanfare gifted to ya without the years of work women like us have put in!" Peggy shouted and waved her hands dismissively at the crowd. "Women wait years for a chance, n' seeing some upstarts who are popular away from the ring just show up n' take someones rightful time in the spotlight really burns."

[CaptainL]

"Y-You really think so?" Yukino blushed harder at Nashi's comments, but she nodded her head nonetheless. Nashi did have an eye for what looked good, so if she felt that her friend could rock the look, she'd keep that in mind. "Well...I'll think about it."

Then, though, as they were headed to the ring, Nashi suggested that Yukino go first so that she wouldn't be overshadowed by the pink-haired girl. At first, she went tense; Nashi surely knew she was nervous about the promo, and this wasn't making the task any less intimidating. But...at the same time, she nodded her head. Nashi wanted her to have her chance to shine. She believed in her, and she wanted her to succeed. That meant enough already. And if Nashi was so sure that she could do such an announcement justice, she had no reason to doubt her. "Alright...thanks, Nashi. Let's do this!"

After she had said her piece, Yukino took a step back, letting Nashi say her part. When she heard all the fans cheering her, it made a warm feeling well up inside her heart, and she bowed her head modestly toward the crowd. Despite all her hardships, despite all the times it felt like she couldn't measure up as well as her partner did, everyone was still eager to see her every time she got in the ring. She could only smile wider when Nashi related everything Yukino meant to her, and how grateful she had been for all her help. She thought she was about to cry...until Nashi shook her back to her senses with that one last part.

"NASHI-!!" she shouted, her face going red as a few fans in the crowd laughed. But when Nashi held her arm high, Yukino looked to her friend, and she nodded her head to her. Nashi had done this all for her. They were determined to carve out a place for themselves in the wrestling world - and above all else, they were doing it as best friends. She couldn't have asked for a better partner.

Just then, however, Peggy and Lauren barged into the arena! Yukino let out a gasp, spinning back around to face the new arrivals. Both members of Irish Oldschool had a less than stellar reputation when it came to their matches, derided as a joke of a tag team that lost more often than they won. But both of them had gone after the Idol Dragons - Lauren against Yukino and Nashi against Peggy - and in both cases, the idols had lost. Evidently, the two wrestlers weren't quite finished when it came to their business with the Idol Dragons.

Yukino's jaw dropped in a gasp as she listened to Peggy and Lauren intrude on their promo. At first, she was in shock - she never saw something like this coming. But the more it went on, the more Yukino felt something else. She was angry. Ordinarily, she was the type to stay back from conflicts like these. But when she had just taken center stage to say her part, and when Irish Oldschool had just interrupted such a big moment for them...there was no way she was going to stay quiet. Something had to be done.

Stomping a foot against the ground, Yukino stormed closer to the intruders. "HEY! What's the big idea!?" She glared, staring at Peggy and Lauren with her hands on her hips. The fact that these women had just defeated her and her partner within recent memory didn't even seem to trouble Yukino. Now, she was determined to right this wrong! "You think that just because you aren't idols like us, it means your successes are more earned? You think that we never had to put in the work a day in our lives?" She shook her head. "You don't know how wrong you are! Nashi and I didn't get by by our fame alone. We had to work to get where we are! You should know more than anyone else that training to be a wrestler takes dedication, and it takes endurance. It's not something just anyone can do. But we put ourselves through it, and we came out the other end anyway! I had to push my body to its limits just to get through training. There were times I thought about quitting, I thought it would be too much...but I kept going anyway, and here I am now! When the fans cheer us, that's what they're cheering, not our looks or our record sales! They see what we can do in the ring, and they know we had to work for it. Even if you don't see that, they do!"

The fans cheered before Yukino continued. "Sure, Nashi and I might have lost to you..." Her eye twitched as she thought back on that memory with a wince - but she kept going regardless. "But you think that's stopping us now? We wouldn't be announcing the show tonight if we didn't have a future! We're going to keep going, and we can only get better and better from here - the fans all see that, too! They're cheering us because they want to see how far we can go! That maybe, some day...we can be champions!"

Yukino stepped back, going to take Nashi by the hand to hoist it up. The fans cheered the defiance they showed as they stood side by side. When Yukino thought of what she'd say next, she bit her lip - it almost felt too low a blow. But when she glanced back at Nashi, and then at the two women in front of them, she couldn't hold back.

"You know what else? How long has Irish Oldschool been a team? Well, for all that time...Nashi and I combined have more wins than your team's ever had! So don't think that because you beat us, it means anything!" As soon as she said that, a cry of "Oooooh!" broke over the crowd. Now it was on!

[SRG]

Nashi giggled seeing Yukino’s reaction before turning her attention to the top ramp. There was the Irish Oldschool looking to start some trouble even after they beat the idol pair in single matches. When they came down talking about how Nashi and Yukino never worked hard, Nashi scoffed rolling her eyes. What made her shock was however was Yukino, this was one of the only time’s she’s broke out her sells and being pissed off! Nashi couldn’t help but laugh as Yukino was telling them to piss off and once she got to that last part, Nashi bended over holding her mouth trying to stop herself from laughing. Once she regained her composure she wanted to throw her hat into the ring ”just so yo two idiots know, Yukino is the nicest person and for her to hit you with those burns shows you done messed up. But since you two or oldschool maybe you should back up because in a tag match you could never beat us! She fired after the tag team, if they were going to ruin Nashi and Yukino’s first promo she wasn’t going to be nice to them either.

[Highfly]

Lauren shook her head and raised her mic. "You two really don't seem to fully understand what we are saying but that is fine. I never expected you kids to really get it." She said. Lauren didn't have any issue with the two themselves, it was the body shaming and image molding that seemed to require a female athlete to not only be good but also have to look good to get noticed.

Peggy was a bit more vocal and being the younger member of Irish Oldschool she had a bit more to say. "You two haven't won anything of substance here! You act like ya have but you haven't done anything! We'd gladly take you on in a tag match anytime, anywhere! We'll slam your cocky little asses all over that ring n' make fools out of ya!" Peggy shot back crossing her arms and glaring at the duo.

[CaptainL]

Yukino knew that Nashi's temper sometimes led to her pick bigger fights than they had set out for, and she couldn't say she approved. In truth, she could respect all the hard work the members of Irish Oldschool had put in to train and improve their skills; she knew, after all, how important it was for them to shed their image of being washed-up jobbers. What she couldn't respect was that they refused to see how hard the Idol Dragons were willing to work as well, or that they wanted to get by through their merit as athletes as much as they did on their looks and fame. When they had tracked them down outside of a match, just to mock them, that was something Yukino couldn't abide by. When Lauren traded a parting barb, questioning if Yukino even had any ground to stand on, she huffed under her breath. The two teams were on the road toward a tag match to begin with, but already, tempers were flying high.

What happened next, however, took everyone by surprise. When Nashi and Yukino had opened the show, LAW's usual ring announcer, Misa Otomura, was notably absent. But it was just then that the curtains opened, and Misa - a former idol herself, ran down the ramp, waving her hand.

"NOW, WAIT JUST A SECOND!!"

Spoiler

Misa rolled into the ring, stepping in between Lauren and Yukino. "I'll have you know that I'm not just LAW's ring announcer - I've also signed a deal with the Idol Dragons to serve as their manager, and represent them in business deals. So, it's for this reason that I'm here to announce that I've received word from Carol Barlet, CEO and commissioner of World of Womens' Wrestling, that she'd like to offer a title defense of the WOWW Tag Team Championships to the Idol Dragons!!" The fans sent out a cheer, hearing the news!

"Really!? She has!?" Yukino gasped, taking a step back with her hands clasped to her mouth. This was an announcement that hit close to home for her - she had trained under Carol, and it was through her guidance that she owed her success. But now, it seemed, she was willing to call in a favor. Yukino didn't know how to think about it. She was glad to know that Carol was thinking of her, and wanted to do something for her...but was she really ready to participate in a title match?

She leaned closer to Misa, whispering a few words. "Ah, erm, tell Ms. Barlet I said thank you...really, this means a lot. But...why tell us this now?"

"Well, I heard that these two were questioning if you'd ever done anything worthwhile, so...I wanted to fix that!" The announcer glanced back over her shoulder at Irish Oldschool with a smirk, making her intentions quite clear - it was up to Peggy and Lauren to decide if they accepted the challenge. Yukino, meanwhile, looked back toward Nashi, waiting to see what her response might be.

[SRG]

Even though Nashi and Yukino were dressed as if they were going to walk the red carpet. That didn’t mean she wasn’t prepared to fight, Nashi began to pull her arms up as if she was going for a punch. It was all until their manager came down and said Carol Barlet, Yukino’s trainer had sign the idol dragons for a tag match for the belts! “WHAAAT!?” Nashi shouted in confusion scratching her head”Misa how does that work for us, since we’re in law?” She titled her head in confusion before thinking it over. The Idol Dragons are a new tag team and too be offered such a match this early could put them on the map toward’s the LAW tag team belts! “Actually never mind! If these old relics wanna face off then I’m down!” She turned her attention to Yukino with a confident smirk on her face. All Nashi wanted to do now was to prove the Irish oldschool aren’t as they’re cracked up to be and beating them in a tag team match for belts was the only way to prove it!

[Highfly]

Lauren and Peggy looked at each other with smiles on their faces. "I think the little lady is daft, but this could be a big opportunity." Peggy said to Lauren.

"I know, I really think that this could be our chance to show the world what we can do. That you can be a successful wrestler even if you don't look perfect or have people cheering for you because you look pretty." Lauren said. "We need to do this, we need to win this." Lauren said as Peggy nodded to her in agreement.

Peggy lift the mic back up speaking to everyone once more. "All right, lets have us a tag team match for those titles! We ain't gonna walk out without gold that night ladies, no way! We are gonna show everyone what we can do even if they actively try to ignore us n' shove us to the side so the shiny new objects catch everyones attention." Peggy said.

"That is right. We are going to demonstrate that anyone who puts in the work can succeed in the ring. You don't need to be famous or have a wrestling relative to get ahead. It may take time toiling in the small time indie scene but we will finish our rise to the top and prove we aren't just some undercard attraction!" Lauren added as the two stood up on the ramp pointing at the young women in the ring.

[CaptainL]

When she saw Nashi drawing back a fist, as though ready to strike, Yukino sucked in a gulp. She went tense, ready to jump in at a moment's notice if Nashi's hot-headedness got them into any trouble again. But before either of them could do anything, they would be cut off by an announcement from Misa - an announcement that they would be in contention for the WOWW tag titles!

Yukino let out a gasp, jumping back from the announcer. She could hardly believe it. It seemed almost unbelievable that she and Nashi would be in the title scene this early on in their careers, even if it was for a promotion outside of LAW. But if Carol herself thought she would be worthy of the position, Yukino wasn't about to argue! It was a sure sign that her career was going places - that she had greatness in her future. The more she thought about it, the more she stood a little taller, looking to Nashi with a smile. Emboldened more and more by her realizations, she looked back at Lauren and Peggy, nodding her head. "And I'm not going to let an opportunity like this pass me by, either! If there's any a time to prove that we can be champions...this is it!"

Misa grinned, looking back and forth between the two teams. The fans were cheering them on, equally excited at the prospect of either Nashi and Yukino or Peggy and Lauren emerging as champions - the hot new up-and-coming stars, or the tried and true talents who had been biding their time waiting for an opportunity like this. The announcer couldn't help bu chuckle as she straightened her tie. Part of her job was bringing the hype, and she was glad to see she wasn't slacking there.

But Misa had one more announcement to make. "Then it looks like things are settled! Irish Oldschool vs. Idol Dragons, for the WOWW Tag Team Championships! And I think a match like this deserves a night we'll have the world watching - which is why I'm shooting to have you guys on the next We Are LAW!"

At this, the crowd erupted into even louder cheers. Yukino's jaw practically dropped in a gasp. Not only was she about to take part in her first title defense, but in her first PPV match! Spinning back around to Nashi, she practically tackled her friend in all her enthusiasm, pulling her into a tight hug. "Did you hear that, Nashi? We're going all the way to the top!!"