Post by April Song on Jun 30, 2019 3:41:31 GMT
Land vs Sky
(Lethal Specialists Championship Match)
[Earlier on in the week April contested a match on DIVISION’s Battlefront, a losing effort as her tournament jinx in wrestling continued to haunt her. Bruised but undeterred by that defeat, she’s sitting alone in her hotel room. The room is quiet other than the barely audible noise from her tablet as she watches her next challenger very closely on the screen. The footage is from several matches, including a meeting they had a long time ago. April stares almost regretfully at the screen, as if she’s preparing for a chore she wants no part of actually doing until her phone ring. Pausing the video, she picks up and answers a call from a comforting, familiar voice.]
April: Hey, Al.
Allen Song: Hey, sis. I saw your match on television. Are you okay? Your ribs seemed to be bothering you a bit.
April: I’m fine. Believe me, it takes a lot more than that to keep me down for long.
Allen: I know, I saw the deathmatch. That was...something else. I don’t understand how you have recovered from that so quickly. Or have you?
April: Well, I’m not going to lie and say I’m in perfect health, but nothing was broken and nothing needed surgery. We’re wrestlers. We fall onto canvas-covered plywood every day for a living. It’s gonna hurt sometimes. I’ll be okay. What’s up with you calling, you’re not usually into saying anything at all, let alone carrying on with a full-blown conversation.
Allen: You’re right. I’m just concerned about your championship match coming up.
April: Why so?
Allen: You know that I trained with Her brother, yes?
April: Of course. I see him every once in a while over at OWA. He’s weird but he’s good at what he does. He trained you well before me and Carlos got our hands on you.
Allen: I know. You know that she’s just as...unorthodox as he is. And far more dangerous. Be prepared.
April: I’m ready. Seriously, when did you start scouting my matches for me? Didn’t you just start wrestling last year or something?
Allen: One other thing.
April: (groans in annoyance) What, Allen?
Allen: I think you respect her too much, you’re actually friendly with her. In most of your matches you display quite a bit of indifference to your opponents if not outright hatred. You have a lot of respect for her, I fear that you may hold back a little from what you can do because you view her as a friend instead of a contender for your title.
April: Allen, as fucking usual, you’ve got it wrong.
Allen: Hmm?
April: I do like and respect Revy a great deal. For the first time someone’s come to me just asking for a title match instead of cheap shotting me from behind or whining about it to Madame Vega or Consuela. I respect her for that. That said, you know what I’ve went through to win this thing. You know how frustrated I was when I carried around a fake belt for a fucking month until I got my hands on the real one. You just saw I nearly killed myself to retain it. It means a lot to me. I don’t want to hurt Revy to retain it, but if I have to, I will. Reminds me of an old phrase someone taught me when I first got started in this line of work: You can make friends or you can make money. You can’t do both at the same time. The money always comes first, Allen.
Allen: Good. I’m glad that your head is in the right place. Just keep that mindset during the match. You were always the more focused of the two of us, that’s your greatest strength besides your arsenal of holds. You never lose sight of your target, regardless of circumstances.
April: Allen, this is the most I’ve heard you talk since you finished wrestling school. Were you really THAT worried about me or just bored out of your mind?
Allen: Both. Also...Maelstrom is...not equipped for emotional conversation. He’s a rather strange one. Strange, but strong.
April: Yeah.
Allen: Be safe, sis.
April: I will. Catch up soon. I’ll call you while I’m polishing my belt after my defense.
[April goes back to studying the film on her opponent, eyes and expression almost blank as she stares, lost in complete concentration. After several more hours of watching matches, she decides to sleep, dozing off and remembering a simpler time, when she used to train with her mother in Jujitsu.]
April’s Dream
[April, barely into her teens, is trying to spar with her mother who is actually slightly shorter than her daughter but with considerably more muscle and experience than the younger Song. April is getting frustrated as she tries to get past her mother’s guard, leaving herself exposed for a painful wrist lock that forces the girl to tap out frustratedly on the sweat-soaked practice mats of their private dojo.]
April: Goddamn it!
Mother: APRIL! Language!
April: (bowing her head as she kneels)....I’m sorry. It’s just, I don’t understand. You beat me every time and I can’t figure out why! I learn one thing and you counter it. I keep losing in tournaments even though I get better in practice! I don’t understand….
Mother: You really don’t.
April: (scoffs and mutters under her breath) Thanks for the encouragement…
Mother: Excuse me?
April:.......
[April’s Mother lets out a heavy sigh before smiling, doing her best to be patient.]
Mother: Fighting is a lot like mathematics. No matter how much you know, no matter how much you learn, you’re always learning. No human being who has ever lived has the answers to every problem. You understand?
April: Yeah.
Mother: Sometimes I worry about you and your brother. You’re both very talented, but also have a critical character flaw. You know Allen, he doesn’t try as hard as you do. With anything. The boy is a genius and we can all see it even though he’s so young. He’s got the natural talent to coast in life, but I want him to do so much more than just coast by. I want him to work at something and truly be special. You, on the other hand ...you work so hard, train so hard, study so hard...that sometimes you lose focus of the task in front of you. Listen to me. Please, please remember that you shouldn’t take every defeat as total defeat. Even when we lose, you have to find the how and the why and correct them. Don’t be troubled because you lose. Use it to learn how to win in the next battle. Understand?
[April manages a small smile much to her mother’s approval before the two of them begin to meditate on their training session.]
Thank you, Mother….
Press Conference
[There is no wacky anime music or antics from April as she enters the small press briefing room the day before her title defense. The Specialists Championship is draped over her shoulder as she heads to the chair at the table dressed in a pair of jeans and one of her favorite black tank tops.]
April: For half a year now, I’ve held this championship. I’ve fought people from other promotions for it, defended it in ladder matches and death matches. I’ve been doing everything in my power to elevate this title and elevate Lethal Angels of Wrestling along with it. I know the LAW Championship is the top title of our promotion, but I like to believe that my reign and my willingness to face challenges head on is proof that this championship is on par now with it at least in terms of prestige. I chose a Submission match for one specific reason: I know more submission holds than anyone in wrestling, I have the highest pain threshold of anyone here...and for once I wanted a leg up on my challenger. It’s a selfish thought, but we’re not the Girl Scouts here. This is serious business. I know Revy quite well, and I’m well aware of how difficult this is going to be. She doesn’t wrestle like normal people. She doesn’t think like normal people. Even after watching hours and hours of her matches from the past...I have no idea what to expect from her.
[April slowly pulls the belt off her shoulder before displaying it prominently on the table.]
April: The funny thing is, she knows exactly what to expect from me. I generally find her to be a kind, interesting person. She is the kind of excitement that LAW needs, the kind of excitement that this title is looking for, craving. If she’s good enough to take this title from me in a match I specifically requested, then God bless her. But she knows what is waiting for her when she steps into the ring with me: Absolute fucking hell. I remember losing to her in that tournament. I remember every second of it. There are three losses in my career that have cut me pretty deeply and that was one of them. Not because I felt cheated. It’s because I wasn’t properly prepared. I didn’t take it seriously. My mother taught me a saying: Fighting is a lot like mathematics. You’re constantly learning. Over the past year or so, ever since I left “that place”, I’ve grown more and more as a wrestler and as a person and THIS belt is proof of that development.
But I’m not satisfied.
I told you all that my main goal is to hold this title and the LAW Championship simultaneously. That has always been my goal. I want to be the face of this organization, I want to carry it’s battle standard proudly into other organizations around the world, I WANT TO SHOW THEM THAT COMING HERE AND BEATING PEOPLE LIKE ARIA JAXON, MIRANDA MINORS, REVY AND JESSICA ROSE MEANS SOMETHING! I WANT THEM TO KNOW THAT WHEN THEY SEE THESE CHAMPIONSHIPS, THEY SEE THE BEST PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING IN THE WORLD!
I don’t want to be recognized as just the best submission wrestler in the world. That’s boring, that means nothing. I want to be seen as the best wrestler in the world. Singles competition, tag team competition, I don’t care.
Revy is someone I have a tremendous amount of respect for, far more than the first time we met. And she has grown as a wrestler. She may have you all fooled with the Brilliant Brawler nickname, but I think she will give a taste of something different tomorrow. But I will be ready. I’ve taken everyone’s best shot so far and not even a bullet from the US Army’s best ex-sniper is going to catch me off guard. We will go to war tomorrow, absolute fucking war. And I’m going to win...and then I’m going to treat my pal to a nice cold beer.
She says on her wrestling bio that she doesn’t ever tap out, right? That’s fine. I know plenty of holds that can cause a referee stoppage. And once this is over, to whoever the LAW and IJWF Champions are, know this:
Don’t get comfortable.
I will not be satisfied with just holding my position. I aim upward and forward, flying ever higher. I want an opportunity to fight for more than just defending this glorious title here. I want to add to my collection. But the only way for them to take my challenge seriously is if I add Revy’s name to the list of men and women whom I’ve submitted, right?
So be it.
That’s all.