L.A.W. - League of Anime Wrestling

Helmfirth. An isolated, near mythical village located in the highlands. Some people doubt its existence, but everyone knows the tragic tale behind it. At one point, Helmfirth was a proud, strong kingdom, founded by brave explorers and warriors who claimed the hand from a tribe of ancient naga. It’s towers stood tall and mighty among the mountains, and its people prospered. Then, at the turn of the first century, a terrible demon from the past returned. The last surviving member of that naga tribe, feared by even her own kind, Gorgon. Driven by revenge, bloodlust, and hunger, she stormed the city with a force of horrible serphants and lesser naga from other lands. The royal family, knights, scholars, and other essential figures were all slain, and the once mighty towers and walls crumbled to dust. What was once a grand civilization now lies a barren wasteland, populated by only a small band of survivors who live an primitive way of life, living in small huts of mud and stone and constantly worshipping their goddess... the one who brought destruction to their doorstep, Gorgon. The centuries old Goddess rules from her “palace”, an large cavern carved into a great mountain... only coming out to demand a sacrifice from her people, and that indeed is what brought her out on this day. Clothed in crimson red robes and flanked by her elite Naga guards, carrying an air of awe and terror all at once to those who looked upon her, she stood in the middle of the town square, an obelisk of strength and sensuality. An elder male Naga next to her would blow a horn, signaling all of the peasants, the majority of which were human, to gather before their goddess

“Now... bow before your Godessssssss!” The naga would hiss as all the peasants would drop to their knees, bowing their heads down to the ground in a sign of submission to their ruler. Gorgon would look at them all with a grin before she would speak.

“My subjects... the time has come again for you to bring me, your merciful and thoughtful goddess, a sacrifice. The prosperity of your village depends on my feelings towards it. I am willing to keep you all healthy and fed... but only if you are obedient to my commands, unlike your foolish forefathers whose stubborn resistance left them crushed by my hand, and their empire to crumble into the ruins around you. I am a thoughtful and kind goddess... and that’s why I’ve left this matter to unbiased fate. All the names of my people were gathered in a census, and one was chosen to play the vital role in the relationship between immortal and mortal. The one among you who shall be sacrificed by twilight is...”

Another Naga would hand Gorgon a scroll, which she would take in her golden clawed hand, a devilish smirk appearing on her face as she read the name, her eyes flashing with a predatory light.

“The son of Matilda Greenstaff”

There would be a hush amoung the crowd as many would turn to a middle aged woman with long, curly brown hair and a face now pale. She couldn’t believe the words that had been uttered.

“G-Goddess... this must be some mistake,” Matilda would say in a meek, shaky voice, barely keeping herself composed. “M-my son... my only son... is only a boy. He is too young to be offered up for sacr-“

“SILENCE!” Gorgon would suddenly shout in a booming, authoritative voice that made Matilda shrink, “One more word of nonsense from your lips and I’ll have you sentenced to have all your nonsense be squeezed out of you! All subjects of my domain, regardless of their age, are eligible to sacrifice. It’s what fate has decided. The sacrifice of your child will keep your villiage safe and peaceful. To not do so is an act of treason! Do I make myself clear peasant?”

Matilda couldn’t muster up the courage to speak, only able to nod her head as she shook and started to sob.

“Good, now my subjects, disperse and go about your normal lives... and have my sacrifice by twilight.”

The naga next to her would suddenly shout out “HAIL GORGON!”

“HAIL GORGON!” The naga and the peasants would decree in unison before Gorgon and her forced would head back to the great cavern. The crowd of peasants would somberly celebrate as Matilda, distraught and stricken with sorrow, would run to the tavern, nearly falling over multiple times as she wept and cried out with agony. Fate seemed to only hold loss and grief for the downtrodden people of Helmfirth, with no hope in sight...

Spoiler

In the wilderness, you could see a strong, muscular, scantily clad, red haired warrior woman riding on a horse. Her name was Red Sonja.

Spoiler

As Sonja rode across the land for about a week now, she saw nothing but fallen castles, abandoned towns, some corpses here and there. Nothing all that unusual and not something that would make Sonja worry. Well, one thing did make her worry a lot - Since everything was either destroyed or abandoned, there were no working taverns, and no taverns - no booze, no booze - very bad.

It took a while, but Sonja found another village, hopefully not abandoned. Sonja passed a broken sign which said ''Welcome to Helmfirth''. Not a very warm welcome, one could say - trash scattered across the place. Sonja grabbed an apple while passing by some carriage, she took a bite and spat out after a moment. The apple was rotten and there was a worm inside. Sonja could have sworn the worm looked more tasty than the apple itself. Sonja was actively looking around, looking for something and that something happens to be a tavern - the first place Sonja visits when entering any city or town.

Upon finding a tavern, flame-haired woman's eyes shone brightly, she quickly dismounted from her horse and kicked open the tavern doors.
Sonja has urgent business with the innkeeper. The redhead would say as she would approach the man with a determined expression.
''What business could you possibly have with me?'' The innkeeper asked in surprise.
Sonja needs a drink. Two, a bottle. No, better roll that barrel over to me... Sonja sat down, for whatever the man would bring her, it was fine as long as it quenched her thirst.

When the innkeeper brought her ale, Sonja took notice of a woman, whose weeping could be heard in the whole place. What's with her? She can't pay for the booze? Sonja would point to the woman. And what's with this land? Everything is deserted, it's like a war zone, yet i see no war. Soon some people would recognize Red Sonja, as she was known far and wide for her deeds, bards sang songs about her and even books were written about her... ''Hey, isn't that Red Sonja?'', ''The She-Devil?'', ''Where?'', ''It IS her!'' ''Maybe she could defeat Gorgon?'' Soon the whole tavern would not shut up about Sonja, which made the redhead irritated. Sonja... Is now... Having a drink! That is far more important than any Gorgon or whatever. Everyone fell silent. The inkeeper then decided to answer Sonja's question. ''This Gorgon, is our goddess and is the cause of all this misfortune that you've encountered, she once conquered this entire empire and forced everyone to bend the knee or be slain. Many escaped, or at least tried. The rest are us, who are living under her grace, embrace and protection''.

Sounds like a one lousy goddess.
''She has been haunting our village ever since, demanding a human sacrifice every now and then.
So, she's one of those gods...
''You don't sound too impressed or afraid, Red one, but you should be if you want to keep your head on your shoulders.''
I am afraid of no man, beast or god. I could tell you a thing or two about conquering empires or slaying gods.
''So, in that case, please, save my son, Sonja! I beg of you!'' The weeping woman would gather her courage, having nothing left to lose, she asked Sonja for help.
What's this about?
''Her son is the next sacrifice for the goddess. At this twilight, in fact.'' The tavern keeper explained. It was already nearing twilight.
Why not run away with your son then, woman?
''Then the Goddess would come and slay every single person in the village...'' The woman would continue weeping, seeing no way out of the situation.
That could be a problem, since i took a liking to your ale, pops.
''The only way to prevent this is to deal with Gorgon for good. If you can do that, Red, then it will be all you can drink on the house.'' The innkeeper struck a hard bargain with Sonja, who finished emptying her mug and then smashed it on the table.
You better refill your stock until i get back, pops, because you can consider me hired! Red Sonja declared, accepting happily, since she was offered two things that she liked the most - a worthy challenge and a drink, lots of it. So, where do i find this Gorgon lady?
''Gorgon is a serpent goddess, she resides in the cave in the mountain, next to this village. There is a path leading directly to it. None of us dare to approache it, however...''
I'll be off to meet your Goddess, then. Sonja said as she walked out of the tavern, mounted her horse and galloped all the way to the mountain, where she found a cave. Wait for me here, boy. Sonja dismounted from her horse and told it to stay, before she entered the cave.

Spoiler

The first thing Sonja took notice of, was that there were way more snakes than an ordinary cave should inhabit and what's more, all of those snakes were all disturbingly watching her as she made her way deeper into the cave. Eventually, Sonja found something like a throneroom, with the throne at the end of the room and a majestic woman sitting on it. Although that woman did not look all that humanlike. Sonja looked around a bit, she heard some helpless moans as she saw some various snakes squeeze the life out of some half-dead people, or swallowing some of them whole. Sonja would then turn to the Goddess. I have a couple of bad news for you, serpent - there will be no sacrifice for you and i have come to do away with you, She-Snake! Sonja would point her blade towards her enemy.

Gorgon had been in her usual position on her throne, an impressive gold and jeweled construction made from the riches of the fallen kingdom she now called her domain. She simply sat there, enjoying the sight and sound of prisoners, raging from warriors who tried to slay her to disobedient townspeople, being squeezed and crushed by large, powerful snakes. There was something about it all that brought Gorgon an almost sexual pleasure. Predator showing dominance over prey, squeezing the life from its body in only its grip. The symphony of sufferering would be interrupted, however, by a loud, boisterous voice. Gorgon would open her eyes to find a scantly clad, fiery red haired woman at the steps of her throne, pointing a sword at her! A grin would appear on her face. This was interesting.

“Why... if it isn’t Red Sonja. The She Devil... I’ve heard my forces speak of you in hushed tones, in fear of your bloodshed. My subjects sing songs of your many acts. It’s a pleasure to meet you... but you’ve chosen the wrong side to take on this matter. You are a mighty warrior, but you are merely mortal, and that which is mortal shall now before me... or be consumed.”

Gorgon’s eyes would flash as four snakes would uncoil from their victims and slither between Gorgon and Sonja, raising up against the she devil as they hissed. They were about the length adult human male, and seemed to resemble King Cobras from their frills and sharp fangs dripping with acid. With the mental command from their goddess, they would lunge forward, looking to strike Sonja!

So you know who i am, then you know what awaits you! I've heard that ''mortal and immortal'' tale so many times, it won't even earn a chuckle from me. Immortal or not, heads roll off their shoulders just fine after i put my sword to work. Sonja replied as big snakes reacted to Sonja's words and Gorgon's command, most likely. They stood right in front of Sonja and were as tall as a man, some kind of acid was dripping from their fangs. Sonja thought that it would be best not to be bitten.

The snakes did not waste any time, lunging at the redhead, who wasn't that impressed, considering the shit she has seen in her life. Red Sonja would swerve to the side, while swinging her sword down onto the first snake, cutting its head off right off the bad. Second snake would try to jump her from the side, hoping to imbed those fangs into Sonja's flesh, however, Sonja would just casually catch the snake with her left hand by it's ''neck'' area and then use it as a whip to smack around the other two, putting them in their place. As one of the snakes would try to rise, Sonja would use her right arm to throw her sword straight through the snake's face, imbedding the snake and the sword into a nearby wall. The fourth snake would try to use this chance and lunge at Sonja, who did not have her sword in hand. However, Sonja had another weapon in her left hand - a snake, which she would coil around the last snake after dodging the lunge attack. Sonja would squeeze one snake, using the other like a rope to choke it out. Even if somehow the squeezing didn't kill it, the irony certainly would.

After both snake would stop moving, Red would walk over to her sword and retrieve it from the wall, pointing it at the Gorgon again. If you want to make someone bow to YOU, then shouldn't YOU be the one fighting them? Or are you too afraid to meet me in a straight duel, despite being immortal? Sonja would taunt and invite to resolve this as woman against woman. Well, technically...

As Gorgon watched four of her feared serpents be dominated and slain by the she devil... a smirk arrived on her face. The legends were true after all... Red Sonja was a great warrior... but Gorgon knew in the end she would be another slave to her coils. She was a goddess... but she couldn't take this woman lightly.

"I just wanted to see if you were worth my time... and it appears you are," Gorgon would look over to the other serpents and Naga around her, who were all looking on with fear in their snake eyes.

"My brethren... take your prisoners to the keep and leave the throne room. I shall deal with Red Sonja alone,"

The serpents would do as their goddess commanded, dragging their prisoners, some still alive and screaming for help, to the darkest parts of the caverns. Their they would continue torturing and even consuming them until their goddess commanded them to come back into the throne room.

"Your fighting prowess truly is legendary... and so I will not waste my time or take unnecessary risk," Gorgon would say as she would look back at Sonja and suddenly begin to transform, her eyes flashing a bright gold as her scale covered legs merged together to form a long tail that was nearly as tall as a castle's watchtower and as thick as a human's waist. The rest of her body, save her face and her breasts, would become covered in Golden scales, and a forked tongue would flicker from her mouth. This was the form she took to conquer the people of Helmfirth... and now she took it as she stared down the barbarian!

"I'll let you have the firssssst ssssstrike," Gorgon would scoff as she held out her mighty arms at her sides, "Make it count... for it might be your lassssst...."

So, the big snake herself has decided to face Sonja in battle. It was about time, too. Gorgon ordered her snakes to evacuate, meaning that the she snake would take this battle as the most intense one. Good, Sonja couldn't wait to run her sword through this snake demon. Some of the prisoners were still alive but the red barbarian woman refused to try and rescue them. She had a fight on her hands now and even if they were to be rescued, they would only ask Sonja to finish them off, considering the condition they were in...

Before the battle could start however, Gorgon underwent a transformation, with her body becoming truly one that of a snake, a really really big one at that. If Gorgon stood up to her full height, Sonja thought that she might need climbing gear to get to it's head. By Mitra, you're long! Red Sonja let out in awe and yet, it didn't scare her one bit. This really wasn't anything that she hasn't seen already. She's already killed demons and gods, hell, she has killed snake gods, just like this one.

Of course, from all of that experience Sonja could tell that this won't be easy, that's for sure, since the mentioned previous times weren't easy either.

That is increddibly generous of you, demon and i shall make it count, one way or another! Red Sonja roared as she charged in at the snake at inhuman speeds and swung her blade at the snake's waist, intent on bisecting the snake. With this sword, Sonja has bisected three demons at once with a single swing, multiple times. The scales looked tough, but surely they weren't that tough. Sonja wanted to surprise the she snake with that, but the only person that she surprised was herself as the said sword just bounced off as Sonja the Red passed the snake and immediately swung from behind. Yet, it bounced off the scales again. These scales are stronger than tempered steel.

Sonja realized that there was no point attacking the scales, so leapt up high, maybe 10 feet into the air and swung down her blade, opting to cleave that head in half. You aren't the first creature with tough scales that i've dealt with, she snake! The redhead would roar as she would fall down towards Gorgon, ready to cleave it in two.