The Butterfly Effect

[BlackAkuma]

”Rough match, dear. How are you feeling?”

”Like I got kicked in the head, Mom.”

Ask a silly question, get a silly answer.

Dizzy had found a nice little corner of the gorilla position to hang out in after the match, lounging on some equipment while she Facetimed her mom. She’d gone there after taking a quick check with the doctor, who informed her that no, she didn’t have a concussion, despite the ever-present aching in her skull. It was forming a lump up there, one she was currently trying to soothe with a bed of ice, but it was nothing that wouldn’t go away in time, though.

What wouldn’t go away, though, was her announcement at not coming out on top in that match. While she was already more than accustomed to losing in LAW - that was the outcome she wanted, half of the time - most of the time that was against women who were substantially bigger than her, who could ragdoll her across the ring.

Losing to someone her size, though, felt a little different. Like she should’ve been able to win this one, or at least come pretty close, 50/50. Instead, she got kicked, sumo slapped, sat on - which she kind of liked, being fair - and yes, kicked in the head.

Dizzy was in dire need of a pick-me-up, and thankfully, that was what loving, if sometimes overbearing, mothers were for.

”I’d tell you I know how you feel, but that’s not exactly true.” Her mother side-eyed her from the opposite side of the screen, as she split her attention between her and the new book she was currently working on. ”I mostly got kicked in the chest, most people couldn't get their legs up high enough to hit my head. You, though…”

”The joys of being short, don’t remind me.” She sighed and flopped back, a motion she immediately regretted since it made her head swim even worse. ”Any advice?”

”For starters? Don’t let a loss go to your head. Martial arts types are tricky to wrestle with; they always come from weird angles. We’ll work on it training; I’ll show you a few things.” She leaned in and looked straight at the camera, peering down over her glasses. ”Until then, decompress. Relax. The best thing you can do right after a match is not think about the match; it’ll drive you up a wall.”

”Easy for you to say, you-” Dizzy paused as something caught her eye off to the side - a familiar figure walking through the crowd of busy crewmembers. ”Call you back in a second, Mom. Need to check something.”

Her mother waved her off as Dizzy ended the call and rolled off. She winced the instant her feet hit the ground, moving too fast, but she ignored the discomfort and soldiered on, quickly shuffling through the crowd to the woman she’d locked onto.

”Dojo!” She slid into her former foe’s view, standing right in front of her with her hands behind her back, innocent as can be. ”Good match back there, great debut. You’ve got a pretty unique…style, there. You put me down really well.”

Starting things off with a compliment never hurt.