Proof of Fang: Yuki Kazikura vs Shimmerlace Snuggleblossom

[Monsy]

Time drips like a melting ice cube.
She became so aware of herself in the moments leading up to it. How the hair felt being grabbed and clawed. The exact amount of strain. The exact shape of their face as she held it. How Shimmer breathed. All of it was important to the experience, which was a line she hadn’t crossed intentionally, so it needed to be perfect and thread a crease on their forehead. And when she lined up that beautiful cut, she measured the resistance in her headspace before the finger was obedient. Her breathing was accelerando for the first few moments, and she worked into it slowly, pressing down, dragging slowly too, first unintentionally, with a shakier grip and a rigor mortis face. But when she heard those magic words. Let her go. She couldn’t hear a more inviting plea that said ‘Cut her more.’

“Or else what?” Mouthed Angelina under a faint voice, designed mostly for Yuki to see and Shimmer to hear. And so she sliced, and she felt quiet on the inside. Her finger now actively bent and her hand piled on weight into the cut. The knuckle went white and Angelina’s face-claw steadily came off as the finger went over. One thick line of blood that became a curtain. And through the shriek and skin tear, Angelina stayed stiff and did the last half in a single slow exhale. She continued to hold the chin when it was over. The white razors now had a wet red shine that she curled into a beckoning claw. “Or else… Nothing.”

She let them go; fall as they may. Angelina grinned for Yuki, waving with her glove before allowing her legs to fold so she collapsed on her side, then rolled out of the ring. Her head lined with the canvas when she stood ringside, looking towards Shimmer as her eyes grew big, and her voice picked up to a semi-normal level to say one thing. “Laugh it off, Shimma. I’ll see ya soon.”

Then she snuck away by vaulting the barricade and disappearing into the crowd and beyond. The titantron gave off increasing static until the noise got ear-nipping. The flashing horned skull got brighter and brighter, and shrieked with a laughter that got distorted over the next few seconds. Then. Pop!

The titantron looked to blow a fuse. The dark sunk in with no more flickering lights. It was the end of the show. Normalcy would return soon, from the lights to all the unease that sunk in, with just a simple text given to her most useful inside hire. Angelina was gone as quick as she came.

[CaptainL]

Yuki knew what she was supposed to do. She knew what she wanted to do. Her fist would fly through the air, straight into Angelina's face. The Marauder wasn't supposed to be here. She wasn't supposed to be doing what she was doing. Shimmerlace was here to prove herself against Yuki, with no outside factors to hold her back, or to get in the way. It was supposed to be a test of her potential and her capabilities. And Yuki, too, was here to put forth the best effort she could, to serve as an honest and objective barometer of what Shimmerlace could accomplish. Yet, Angelina was throwing all of that off. She had stormed into a match she wasn't even supposed to be a part of. Her appearance had shaken Yuki to the core, bringing all the memories of her defeat and the ensuing doubts and questions it raised in her head back to the surface, and freezing her in place. And now, she was threatening the Feychild with harm, preparing to cut into her forehead. Something that itself brought Yuki back to her match with Skylar Jones, and the horrors that had been inflicted on her then. Something that Yuki couldn't stand to let happen to anyone else.

She could put a stop to all of this. Just one shove forward, one punch, one slam of her knuckles into Angelina's face, and she could send the message she wanted to send - about how she couldn't tolerate this; about how Angelina wouldn't get away with this. About how she wasn't afraid of the redhead any more, and how she was willing to stand up to her. And yet...when push came to shove, she couldn't. All the courage and bravado seemed to melt away from Yuki right then and there, staring into Angelina's eyes. Her fist trembled in midair; it tightened further, her knuckles blanching under the pressure, but it stalled there. And when Angelina's claws dug into Shimmerlace's flesh, and the blood came pouring down her face...all Yuki could do was watch.

She winced and shuddered at the sight, clenching her teeth as a shiver went through her whole body. When she heard Shimmer's scream echo through the arena, she felt something drop in the pit of her stomach. But no matter how much pain the pink-haired girl no doubt had to endure, it wasn't that that truly sent a chill down Yuki's spine. It was what Angelina said to her - a taunt that Angelina, no doubt, knew would dig deep into Yuki's soul. And worse yet, it worked.

Yuki had the chance to stop this. She could've faced her fears. She could've stood up for what was right, and silenced Angelina; she could have nipped this right in the bud. But she didn't. When she needed to act, when she needed to be brave most of all, when she needed to show Angelina that she couldn't get to her and that she was stronger than her and her little scheme wouldn't work...she couldn't do it.

And when the lights cut, and Angelina fled the scene, all Yuki could do was stand there, her eyes wide, her knees trembling, and her fist still hanging in the air. She wanted to say something, but any words she could have formed died in her throat. Nothing would change anything now. This was her fault. And no matter how much she didn't want to believe it...Angelina was right about her.

[Malkavia]

Shimmerlace found herself on her back. She didn’t remember falling. Her experience was like waking from a dream, blinking to see the stage lights overhead, bright enough to split her head.

The sensations were not new. The dizzy tilt of the world spinning, as if she were drunk, the bone-deep pain and exhaustion, even the angry itch along the laceration Angelina had carved into her head—they all fit the same profile as the first time Eleanor had knocked her flat and cold. Whenever she hit the top rope, this was the feeling that followed.

Well, almost. The pain in Shimmerlace’s forehead rose like a siren, and she cringed and clenched her fists, before it fell. But it wasn’t the laceration that gave this particular kersplat its unique tingle. There was a vibration in the air. Her skin prickled, tight under electric tension. The audience felt it too, and she could hear their buzz

Her eyes still shut, Shimmerlace bit her lip and felt her back settle into the mat. They’d talk about this one—remember this one. On a level that tasted like bile, she felt a tinge of admiration. When she laid down in her bed this evening and played the match over and over in her head, there’d be one pole, one horned center of gravity she’d come back to again and again, seared into her retinas, because at the end of all things, the cunt knew how to steal the show.

Shimmerlace had crawled deep into her thoughts, the layers of pain and exhaustion and itch a kind of blanket that wrapped her up, anxious and angry and churning in her own juices, to the point that she didn’t realize that show was still going—and Yuki would soon be waiting for her to open her eyes.

[CaptainL]

As the backstage crew went to examine the wires and the mechanisms that ran the lighting system, tightening a few bolts and rerouting a couple of switches, the lights began to come back on over the arena - dim at first, blinking and flickering, but soon light had been restored to the room. With how quickly everything had happened, and how suddenly Angelina had struck, one could have been forgiven for questioning if they'd really seen what they thought they saw. But as the lights came on, it became clear that everyone's worst fears had been confirmed. Shimmerlace was laid flat. Blood covered the ring, dripping from the cut that crossed her brow. And Angelina was gone.

Everyone had been left speechless from such an intrusion. But out of everyone who bore witness to the act, there was perhaps no one who had been hit harder than Yuki Kazikura herself. As she looked down on the bloody canvas, her stomach tightened; she winced and clenched her teeth just at the thought of what her opponent had endured. And what only stung worse was what she was reminded of by the darkest reaches of her inner conscience. She had her chance, she told herself. Angelina was right there. Yuki could have reached out and silenced her once and for all, and shown the world that she wasn't the coward Angelina thought she was and that she feared she was. She could have taken a stand. She might have even prevented Shimmerlace from being caught in the crossfire. But she hadn't - and now, it was Shimmer who had to pay the price.

A bitter, metallic taste took hold of her mouth; her face contorted tighter in a wince, and she had to brace herself with her hands on her bent knees as her shoulders lurched up and down, in and out, with every hoarse breath she took. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and her agitation had been goaded on by her own doubts and regrets as much as it was by Angelina. This, she knew, was her fault.

But...she couldn't let it stop her now, she reminded herself, sucking in a breath and pushing herself up higher as she held her back straight. She lost her first chance to prove that she was strong. But she wouldn't miss the next one. A coward would have surrendered now, and conceded that the interference had rattled her too much to stand a chance. But Yuki wasn't going to be a coward. She'd have to keep going.

When Yuki took one step closer to Shimmerlace, and then another, each step was an act of defiance - a refusal to show the hesitation Angelina wanted to put on display to the world. It was there that she looked down on Shimmer, her face flat and stoic. But rather than looking on at her with scorn, Yuki simply extended one hand to her. The choice was with Shimmer. If she needed help to get up, Yuki would lend that to her. So long as Shimmer was ready...this match would go on.

[Malkavia]

Shimmer’s eyes bleared open, left eye first and then the right, and there was Yuki, an alien aglow in the light of the UFO overhead. Offering a hand. The Feychild’s lips curled—well, deja fuckin’ vue.

On the one hand, at least Yuki got it and wasn’t trying to pull any stop the match bullshit. But, on the other wing, Shimmer had made her stance on helping hands abundantly clear, and she wasn’t about to shift gears there on account of a bit of blood. Her palms pressed in to the ground, and her gut clenched—

And cramped. The sensation was like a blade between her ribs and made the muscles in her neck pull taut. She gasped, cringed, grit her teeth. Her eyes shifted from Yuki’s to the side, and she felt the pause that followed hang off her like a weight.

Imagine if she were Angelina. Where’d your girl be right now, huh?

Come on cunt.

The pause had dragged on five, six seconds—long enough she could feel the audience watching. Her thoughts darted to imagining the view from the top seats, Feychild on her back and the Skybeast bent over with her hand outstretched. Was Angelina still up there, still watching even in the aftermath of her little show-stealer? All Shimmer had to do was hop up, but she felt heavy, and the clock was tick-ticking and—fuck it. Fuck it.

She grabbed Yuki’s hand and let herself get pulled up to a wobbly pair of feet. It felt like there were two lead weights ready to pull her feet straight through the mat. Right when she should have been celebrating her hardest, the body had to start pushing back. But—second verse, same as the first. Fuck it. Her eyes circled back around to Yuki’s, and her fists went up, and she spat on the mat.

It was the moment to say something tough, to put things back on track and the spotlight where it belonged. But when she tried to dredge the bravado up, her forehead just creased. Words, too, were exhausting.

[CaptainL]

Through all her constant needling and interfering, Angelina had been trying to bring the worst out of Yuki - to make her give in to her aggression, and to prove to the world that she really was the ruthless, dangerous psychopath she was so intent on proving her as. To show that she was no different than Rose Gold. She'd tried to do that in all the times she'd butted into her personal life, and no doubt it was her intention here - to deny Yuki the chance of a victory she had earned entirely through her own efforts, her own ability and force of will; that would only make Yuki that much angrier, and that much more likely to lose her cool if she and Angelina came face to face again. But if that was the case, Yuki needed to prove she was better than that. Angelina, she thought, had only undermined herself. When Yuki offered a hand to Shimmerlace, volunteering to help her even if she was her opponent, that would prove that she wasn't the monster Angelina wanted so desperately to make her into. Rose Gold wouldn't do something like this. Yuki would show everyone she was the better person. She might be stand-offish and aloof, yes, but she knew what was right. And when she held her hand out toward Shimmerlace, she had nothing less than pure intentions.

Which meant that when the pink-haired girl met eyes with Yuki in mid-rise, when she abruptly let go of her hand, and she spat at her feet...Yuki was taken aback.

She let out a gasp, her eyes growing a little wider as she took a step away. But a moment later, she sucked in a breath. Her eyes narrowed in focus, and she settled into a stance, her fists clenched and her muscles taut. Fine, she told herself - so be it. If that was how Shimmerlace wanted to handle things, then that was just how she was going to deal with it. She wouldn't let her guard down or give anyone a moment to doubt her. She'd have to be ready for action! Shimmerlace wanted to meet her head-on, just as she had promised. And Yuki was just going to have to be ready for that.

One of her feet skidded behind her, widening her stance and raising her fists, as she bent lower at the knees to ready herself to strike as soon as she would need to. The next move, however, would be Shimmerlace's. But Yuki was ready.

"Bring it on, then..."

[Malkavia]

The face Yuki made…hurt. The girl’s eyes went wide. Her lips parted. As much as she covered it up three shakes of your head later, for that twitch of a moment, she looked as if Shimmer had bit her.

”Fuck don’t look at me like that yooks—Yuki.” Shimmerlace cringed as she caught herself using Angelina’s nickname again. She hadn't meant anything by it. It was just the name stuck in her head. Once she'd heard her say, it had repeated a thousand times over in her head, like everything else the Marauder said. ”I didn't mean, like—” Hadn’t meant what? To spit? Her head swam like the left-over slime at the bottom of a thick drink, so thin you could see the bottom of the mug. Fuck but she was tired. She squeezed her eyes shut and held back a groan. Why was she trying to explain herself anyway? Did she really give a shit what this girl thought anyway?

Yes.

”...I just don’t like bein’ helped up.”

There was more she wanted to explain—that she wasn't spitting at Yuki, or even the Marauder, that she’d just tasted bitter air after the fall and disappointment and the terror of razor wire and the deep thrill of Angelina’s touch and the way her body ached under the weight of starting over again, and she needed that taste out. But by now she knew Yuki wasn't one for explanations. Hell, she'd already said too much.

Yuki was waiting, wide-stanced and glaring. Shimmer’s brain was shot, and it didn't help that a little antenna of her attention kept zipping out to the audience, scanning for red and violet. Maybe she’s still out there, dunking popcorn and taking notes. Shimmer shook her head. She didn't have the imagination for a fancy opener, but fuck it all—the drills came back to her. Basic, simple, and absolutely carved into her muscle memory. Fucking Eleanor and her “fundamentals.” This move explores your range, helps you judge distance, is a good leg workout, and can be used in almost any situation.

And if you drill it until you're sick to death of it, you can also pop it out when you're too frayed for thought. Shimmerlace held her body sideways relative to Yuki and slid towards her, edging closer until she was in range — and lashed out with a super kick.

[CaptainL]

Yuki had already taken a step back, letting her weight settle so that she would sink back into a stance - her balance carefully distributed between her feet; her knees bent; her fists raised. Her face was stern and unchanging, her expression just as stoic as it had been when the two of them both realized this match was still going strong. But when she heard Shimmerlace's explanation, she nodded her head. No matter how charged things might have grown, even if Shimmerlace had already spat at the ground at Yuki's feet, and no matter how high the stakes and the tension had become, the dark-haired girl wasn't going to hold anything against her foe. As a matter of fact, she understood where she was coming from well. Yuki was out to prove her worth, and she understood that the only way she could do that was by her own merits. She couldn't fall back on anyone else to support her or to lend her credence - it all had to come from her. Shimmerlace, evidently, thought the same way, and that was something Yuki could only respect. And it was then Yuki remembered why she was here in the first place. Shimmer wanted to prove she could put up a fight worthy of Angelina Tarrant, and Yuki was going to give it to her, interference or no interference.

As Shimmer began to move forward, Yuki sucked in a breath, and her muscles tensed up, ready to strike. She could tell that Shimmerlace was trying to close the distance, and that she wanted to put the momentum of her advance behind her next attack. It showed in her body language and the way she distributed her weight; Yuki could see all of it from how closely she studied her opponent's motions. She knew what was coming. She'd been in the ring enough times before to know what to anticipate from an opponent who made such advances, and she knew what to be ready for. And when Shimmerlace was already slowed down from the pain in her head - and the shock to her system that had been Angelina's intrusion - it made her lag a step behind. Her plan was sound. Had she been quicker, she might just have been able to pull it off. But Yuki was quick, too. And when she already knew what Shimmerlace was setting up, she was already prepared to spring a counterattack.

Just as Shimmerlace slid closer, and right as her leg kicked out, Yuki would shift all of her weight from one foot to the other. This would cause her to swerve out of the way, dodging the blow - Shimmer's foot would just strike at the air a little to the side of Yuki's head, only clipping the edges of her flowing hair. But more importantly, that dodge would draw on some momentum of Yuki's own. Momentum that she too would put behind a blow - as she spun herself around on her one foot so that her other leg would be thrown against Shimmerlace's side with all the power of a well-executed roundhouse kick!

[Malkavia]

See ya soon.

As she executed the pivot into her superkick, Shimmerlace's bangs flopped from her forehead to her check, where they clung, wet and sticky. Her flushed face radiated heat, but her skin felt clammy. Soon. She'd said the word like it was a date on Angelina's calendar ― circled in red with a star drawn over the number. The Feychild's heart was pounding hard and pounding loud, and each squeeze of her ticker meant another slithering kinda itch, another burn along the line Angelina had drawn on her forehead. It ran in her eyes, and she couldn't make out much through the red blur when her foot barreled past Yuki.

"Fuckin'―"

An insane thought occurred to Shimmerlace, as Yuki's boot bent her ribs and sent her tumbling back to the mat: Was Angelina having Thistlebro watch? This was a televised match ― Apex and all. Surely your Marauder got cable? As Shimmer's shoulder crumpled on the shoulder and she rolled onto her gut, and the bruise already forming along her lateral side just beneath the ribs began to bitch like the rest of her, she pictured the whiskered face aglow in the television light.

"Pissant." By now the blood running down her brow had become a red-brown smear down her cheek, down her chest. It stained her outfit. That was a funny memory too, she thought, as she grabbed the middle rope and heaved, teeth pinched like a vise. Back with dear old Angelina aboard the S.S. Losah ― she'd stained her clothes then too, and had been so upset. Oh fuck me, Honeyed Lord save us from the dry cleaning. "Cunt. CUNT."

Her side, the one that had just splintered under Feydwer only fuckin' knows how many pounds of explosive Kazikura pressure, hitched as Shimmerlace pulled herself up. She squeezed her eyes shut ― unstrategic, except she hadn't really been looking at Yuki the whole way up. Her eyes were off on the rabbit and its owner. But ― say it again cunt ― fuck it. She wiped the blood out of her face and looked at Yuki.

K. So. Fundamentals didn't lift the right height it seemed. Let's give 'em full fuckin' fairy then. Wings and all.

Another charge. This time she squeezed her gut and clenched her throat and mentally doused the aches in dust until they glowed ― and then, instead of hitting Yuki, she'd aim to duck or slide around her. Hit the bottom rope behind Yuki, cussing at the way her hips whined, and then jump horizontal into an attempted Loop Round the Hedge.

Spoiler

[CaptainL]

With the sound of a crack, Yuki's boot plowed into Shimmerlace's side, and the Feychild was hurled to the ground. As her foot came down to rest on the mat, Yuki leaned over forward, brushing a few strands of sweat-slick raven hair out from her eyes as she took slow pants to will the air back into her lungs. When she looked down at Shimmerlace and saw the blood trickling down her scalp, and when she heard the sheer, raw hatred dripping from every curse that slipped past her lips, she clenched her teeth and shuddered. This wasn't the intensity of someone who was fully committed to a match. No, it was only bestial bloodlust that kept Shimmerlace going, and that gnawing hunger for revenge. When Yuki thought of the anger that had consumed her opponent, she couldn't help but feel a chill wash over her. That rage, she knew, was a terrible thing. But, she reminded herself, that rage wasn't directed at her. No, it was Angelina who had earned such wrath. This wasn't about Yuki at all. And Yuki had to remind herself of that to keep herself from losing her cool. Angelina, surely, was targeting Yuki as well - using Shimmerlace as an example to ensure she felt unsafe; that she felt targeted. Not even now, when Angelina wasn't in the match at all, could Yuki afford to let the Marauder win. She couldn't succumb to that same trance that Shimmerlace had. She still needed to strive for success!

Yuki took in a long, deep breath, clenching and unclenching her fists to try and calm her nerves. She had to put Angelina aside. Much as her intrusion rattled the Japanese girl, she wasn't here any more. It was just her and Shimmerlace, and Shimmerlace was the danger she was truly up against; the danger she had to watch for. The Feychild was quick on her feet, and she was only spurred ever on by the aggression in her, but she was blinded by that aggression - a fact Yuki knew because it had happened to her. Against Amano Jaku. Against Angelina herself. This time, she had to be better.

By the time Shimmerlace took off, Yuki had already collected herself - and she was thinking a step ahead. She had gone tense, prepared to strike out as her opponent came near, only for Shimmer to run past her and into the ropes. However, Yuki would just have to adjust. She spun around on her feet to follow her foe, reminding herself never to let Shimmerlace out of her sight. She watched as the pink-haired girl sprung up the ropes, and how she pushed back to catapult herself toward Yuki. But Yuki was ready. As Shimmer came close to her, she came running toward her, extending her arms to catch her as she fell. And if that worked, she'd throw her weight over backward to hit a German suplex, hurling Shimmerlace into the canvas!