The controversy was a bit of a wild time for Alice. The bar brawl against a fellow LAW wrestler made the news on the internet, similar to what ultimately lead to her first PPV match in LAW...and what ultimately lead to a very long term injury that knocked her out for a while. People talked about Clara's hiatus a bunch...but barely anyone mentioned that the younger Gaster sister was also not wrestling. Thankfully, the company helped her get back on her feet, even though the PPV match was, more or less, meant as a punishment.
...and in the end, she couldn't help but feel that she hasn't found much success in LAW after her return. She was told to "chill out" by the company, and she couldn't help but think that maybe she took the advice too close to home, fearing that her previous daredevil attitude got her in trouble too much. But as a result of her "chilling out", her wins became in-frequent, even in...no, especially in hardcore and deathmatches. Thankfully, injuries weren't that out of the ordinary compared with the start of her career, but losing her edge felt...bad. The No-DQ match vs Baroness was definitely when she started to have these feelings about her career as the sadistic Frenchwoman and her maids destroyed her spine, driving the Alice to a crying mess as she had Clara and her girlfriend help her to the back (with her thankfully only needing a few weeks of rest after the qualifier after the damage her back took in the bout). She felt humbled...humiliated even...
The incident at the bar only worsened her self-doubt, unable to look her sister in the eye for the last couple of weeks as the Apex tour got underway...and surprisingly, Alice's match took place in London. Obviously, it wasn't her "home" home crowd which Clara would get on her show in Newcastle...but it also felt better to have the match here. This was where her career as a hardcore wrestler started, with her primarily wrestling in London prior to joining LAW. She actually arrived to London a week earlier and took her time to say "hello" to the indies she was an active part of, as well as arranging a meeting with her and Clara's parents. She tried to keep up with her folks, but she always felt the phone calls would go...awkwardly. Anytime she thought of phoning them...she got into another bar fight, or had a particularly brutal match recently. Her parents were already disproving of her wrestling style, and talking about that felt...off. But now that it felt awkward to talk to even Clara, and her needing to vent to someone...she decided to try and talk to her parents.
Surprisingly, the talk at a restaurant that her parents invited her to went better than she anticipated. She imagined her mom really wanted to talk to her, and starting the talk off the wrong foot was a sure way to get their relationship back to radio silence for a few more months...or even years. Naturally, their parents threw some snide comments about her recent misadventures...before ultimately assuring her that she will always have a place in their home, and to visit them once the tour reaches Newcastle...especially with her sister.
With the meeting going well, it was time to focus on her match....which, between Nerissa and Alice, the last few weeks as she got ready for her flight were pretty much the women fighting already, as they tried to one up each other with adding the stipulations for the match. Alice simply wanted a Barbed Wire match, but Nerissa would add more, with Falls Counting everywhere for the encounter (whichever the unlucky ref was chosen for the match would absolutely hate the two of them for that). Alice took it in stride however, specifying that weapons were to be scattered around the ring, to make it a 100% proper deathmatch...at which point Nerissa actually decided to appeal to Alice as well, adding explosions to their match! However, at that point, LAW would step in and block the stipulation, leaving them with a Falls Count Anywhere, Weapons In The Ring Barbed Wire Ropes match.
The day of the match would arrive, Alice entered the arena...with her sister waiting for her at the entrance.
"Hi...", she waved, smiling, to Alice's confused expression. For a second, she didn't want to talk to Clara...only to voice her confusion out loud:
"How...how long were you waiting for me? In front of the arena?"
"Trust me, with the last few weeks and waiting to go to Newcastle, I think I have an eternal amount of patience now...now, let's go", Clara would say, motioning for Alice to follow her.
The two women would arrive to the backstage room designated as Clara's private locker room, with Clara sitting down in her chair, motioning to Alice to take another one. Alice tried to speak:
"Clara, I am sorry for what happened in the bar... I felt indebted to you after the Baroness match, and I couldn't ignore anyone bad-mouthing you...maybe it's also my recent matches getting to me, but I don't want to make excuses. I am sorry."
Clara didn't smile, but exhaled:
"We both had a rough 2022 it seems. Some of which was from our own design. For what it's worth, I am sorry for trying to control your bookings, with Yuzuha and almost cancelling the match with Baroness. I just felt...guilty for letting my friends down like this, and I wanted to keep them save...but we are now adults, and I feel like in wrestling, we are mature enough to deal with our own situations...not that we can't have each other's back when push comes to shove..."
Alice nodded, agreeing.
"And with that... I have a peace offering...", Clara got a wide, thin box from the table behind her, as she chirped up, Alice being very interested at what the present was.
Alice picked up the box, and unwrapped it:
” Oh… Oh my goodness… I-I don’t know what to say…”
Inside it was a new costume, specifically, a cute, single leg leotard outfit with “Alice” emblazoned on the front.
”I had it custom-made. Come on, try it on!”
After a good few minutes Alice was changed…and Clara couldn’t help but smile like an idiot:
”You look like you are ready to kick ass and take names!”
Alice giggled as she blushed:
”Th-thank you so much, sis.”
The two women hugged. Once they separated, Clara started to go towards the door:
” I gotta go, but once the match starts, I will be watching it closely. I don’t think Nerissa is the sort to try and injure you post match…but in case anything bad happens, know that I am here.”
Alice nodded as Clara waved a farewell to her sister, closing the door…and Alice sticking her foot out, trying to make sure Clara wouldn’t lock it to try and block her from fighting like with Yuzuha…
The show got underway. Due to O2 being a serious arena, little lewdness happened, bar an undercard smother match. Soon, however, it was time for the main event. Nerissa would come out first. Her entrance was rather impressive, with plenty of lights and pyro, not to mention the LGBT+ flag that made it hard to boo her at all. Alice still couldn’t help but think:
”Showoff…”, just a little bit, even if she approved of coming up with the flag.
Alice got a knock on her door as the announcer started to introduce the match, as the crew member gave her a minute to prepare, Alice nodding as she made her way towards the Gorilla Position.
”And her opponent…”, the announcer would say as the lights dimmed once more…
The spotlight glowed from right behind Alice as she held her kendo stick behind her, creating an effective silhouette as her new song started proper. She walked down the ramp, clad in her new attire to cheers from the crowd, raising her kendo stick up into the air:
"WHO IS READY FOR ME TO KICK THIS BITCH'S ASS?!"
There was a mix of cheers and jeers for Alice, just like she liked, as she smiled into the crowd. There was someone in the crowd holding a "Extreme London House fan" in the crowd...followed by them turning the sign to show: "OG Alice Fan" sign, as she gave a firm thumbs up to them, camera making sure to capture the fan, before Alice continued on her way down to the ring.
"FROM NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, ENGLAND! The Princess of Death! The Grim Reaper who started her path in this very city! The woman who brings brutality with her every match! The sister of the Lord of Shadow! Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome: "The Pale Rider"! Alice! Gaster!"
At that point, the crowd erupted with cheers once more, as they got that much more excited for the upcoming bout, one that they have been waiting for over a month now...
Alice carefully stepped onto the ring, trying not to touch barbed wire...yet. She still ended up cutting her finger as she grabbed the ropes, but she didn't show it. She raised her stick into the air one more time as the crowd cheered once more, before finally, things quiet down.
Alice took a look at the ref...who was clad in a bodysuit on top of a ref shirt. This woman was not taking any chances. She was protecting herself against whatever and whereever the two competitors were going to go tonight...
Alice took a look at Nerissa, smirking:
"Hope you are ready for a war..."