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Descriptions of violence
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"And Alicia Winthrop once again hits the canvas as Kunoichi nails her with a spinning heel kick off the ropes!" cried Helene Rivera.
The beleaguered powerhouse had just snapped off the cables when a wrestling boot resembling ninja footwear crashed into her chin. She rubbed her eyes to clear her vision as a muddle of form-fitting grays and blacks loomed overhead. The multi-discipline black belt and former muay thai lightweight champion hauled Alicia upright in a side headlock to inflict more punishment.
"Kunoichi has been all over the auditioning challenger from the bell. Right now, Alicia Winthrop must be wondering what she's gotten herself into, and more importantly, how she's going to get out of it!" an enthusiastic Christopher Michaels squealed over the action.
In a blur of raw violence, the former hockey player popped back to life and delivered a crushing right hook to her undersized opponent hard enough that Alicia swore she felt some spine. Kunoichi's eyes bulged out of their sockets as her feet flew out from under her, causing her to plunge face-first to the mat at Alicia's feet, clutching her stomach with both arms as desperate, ragged gasps escaped her lips.
"That's how, Chris!" hollered the co-owner of the promotion. "We saw last week the kid's got a hell of a Sunday punch in her arsenal. Let's see if Alicia's built some tools around it over these past two weeks."
The rookie's face twisted into a scowl as she laid a furious barrage of boots into the back of Kunoichi's head, drawing a sharp cry of pain with each blow. Alicia stepped behind her downed opponent and pulled her up from the mat. With both arms wrapped around the smaller competitor's waist, Alicia lowered and popped her hips, hurling the back of her much lighter opponent's head and neck into the canvas with a Belly-to-back Suplex.
Helene continued on play-by-play, "Winthrop wisely stays on top of Kunoichi and puts that size and strength advantage to use!"
Chest heaving, arms burning, legs like jelly, but still holding onto the rear waistlock, Alicia rose to her knees and then her feet while maintaining the suffocating reverse bearhug. She steadied herself and roared as she deposited Kunoichi one more time on her shoulders and the back of her neck with a second Belly-to-back Suplex.
“Hang on, we’ve never seen this out of the upstart before!” cried Helene. “Alicia keeps the reverse bearhug on tight and sends Kunoichi back down to the canvas!”
Those two suplexes had taken much of Alicia's remaining strength, but the beleaguered newcomer refused to let up. Alicia rolled off the canvas and to her feet, ignoring the pounding headache and throbbing pain in her jaw. She pulled Kunoichi to her feet by her ponytail and arm and shoved the smaller fighter back-first into a corner.
"Looks like Alicia thinks she's back on the ice and brings Kunoichi to the corner to land some more punches," exclaimed Christopher Michaels. "Kunoichi better do something to get this fight under control before a hockey game breaks out!"
"You have to wonder if Winthrop's going to that well again too soon," Helene pondered aloud.
As if on cue, the rookie let a massive uppercut fly that would've been impressive had the Japanese wrestler not weaved out of the path of the swing, seized the errant limb, and spun Alicia hard to the mat in an armbar. The smaller mat technician secured her grip as she lay on her back, legs wrapped around the captive right arm as Kunoichi forced Alicia's elbow the wrong way.
"Looks like the announcer's curse strikes again, Helene!" exclaimed Christopher Michaels. "Just like you said, Kunoichi had that haymaker scouted. Alicia
missed the goal and now Kunoichi's going to stick it to the
former hockey player."
The larger wrestler wailed in agony as the connective tissue in her elbow and shoulder were being pulled apart. Tendon fibers stretched, straining like the joint would crack and give way at any moment. She grit her teeth, trying to block out the tension of bone testing the limits of full extension. Alicia could feel something creaking in the joint. Her face was frozen in pain, unmoving. It stayed like that.
"Didn't we practice reversing that exact armbar into a pin attempt?" shouted Sabrina, pointing at the screen. "That exact one! She would've had to break the hold. You'd have gotten right out. You told me you'd remember this stuff! Or did you forget? I specifically-" The red-faced veteran took a silent, furious pause. "No. You know what? Let's watch what you do instead." She held up the remote and pressed play.
"-lailing, screaming, and thrashing than I expected from a student of the legendary Iron Maiden," Christopher Michaels remarked, his bemusement palpable through the screen.
Alicia
pretended not to notice her trainer's withering stare and
squirmed in her seat as her skeleton fought in vain to escape its
tormented flesh prison.
“Alicia Winthrop is trying to scramble for a rope break, but when Kunoichi dragged Alicia into that armbar, she made sure to take the two of them as close to the center of the ring as possible,” said Helene. "Ironically, I bet Iron Maiden would've been proud of that level of ring awareness."
I
died. I slipped in the shower one morning and now I'm dead and being
punished because knocking people's teeth out for the purpose of
sport is a sin. No
other explanation made sense; the theory was bulletproof.
Alicia windmilled her arm on the mat trying to find purchase and drag herself to the ropes. Each revolution gained her about an inch to an inch-and-a-quarter of progress. Her wails were clearly audible from the footage, and they were not dignified.
"As a rookie, even if you've been trained right, nerves can sometimes take over," explained Helene. "You lose yourself in the moment and fall back on instinct, but getting over that is one of the key differences between someone who breaks through to the next level and someone who never quite does. Didn't happen to me coming up, but I've seen it happen."
Alicia latched onto the bottom rope with her fingertips. Freedom was literally in her grasp--eventually.
"Kunoichi, rope break! One! Two! Three! Four! Fi-"
The wrestling ninja released her opponent only until the referee left enough daylight to sneak through again. Alicia's vision cleared long enough to glimpse her opponent approaching, wearing what looked like a black sleeveless hoodie with gray accents on the back and hood. She plucked Alicia off the canvas and pulled the dazed fighter to her feet at center-ring.
"Kunoichi's got the novice exactly where she wants her. Tally another one for the Assassin," said Christopher Michaels. Alicia knew what came next: side headlock, hook the leg, Fisherman's Suplex. And so it did.
Alicia's back hit the mat flush with her right leg trapped in the Fisherman's part of the suplex. The uncontrolled impact felt like bashing against concrete instead of canvas, but Kunoichi wasn't finished. With one swift maneuver, the compact mat technician swung her legs and torso around and slipped under her opponent, twisting Alicia into position. Kunoichi snared one arm in an arm hold, one leg in a leg hold, and used her closer leg to torque Alicia's head and neck 90 degrees to the side. The grounded Octopus Stretch was cinched in tight.
Helene kept up with the action on commentary, "Beautiful Fisherman's Suplex, and there's the Octopus Stretch! Kunoichi has it locked in! The Dream of the Fisherman's Suplex! Alicia is miles from the ropes. Is there anything left in the tank?"
Alicia grit her teeth, eyes screwed shut in pain, and thrashed in the hold with the last of her remaining strength. With an arm and leg trapped, the flailing newcomer struggled but succeeded only in tiring herself further. Seconds passed like minutes as Kunoichi poured on the pressure, cranking the captive limbs beyond their limits.
A sick pit of guilt grew in Alicia's stomach at the thought of tapping out, but she could no longer bear to suffer in silence. A wave of cheers ripped through the crowd as the rookie feverishly slapped the mat while screaming her submission, "Give! I give!"
Ding ding ding!
Despite the referee calling for the bell, the In-ring Assassin kept the hold on a while longer, causing Alicia to cry out in anguish as she felt something about to pop in her right shoulder before Kunoichi finally let go.
"And that's it!" shouted Helene. "The challenger taps out and starts her career off on a losing streak. Welcome to QoW, rookie!"
Losing streak?
"Quite a performance," said Sabrina as she hit the rewind button and sat down in her worn leather office chair. "So now that you've seen it in full, let's go over it from the beginning. I know you're sore, but don't worry. I promise we're not getting in the ring. This six-minute match is going to take the full four hours, and that's if I rush."
Alicia needed a release valve. "Did I do anything right?"
"I didn't see you trip coming down the ramp," Sabrina remarked and hit play on the remote. The opening bell rang, and the two competitors stepped out of the corner. Pause. "Nope. Can you tell me what you did wrong?" asked the trainer, eyes still on the TV. Silence. "Great answer, yes, thank you: you're letting her dictate the range because you aren't closing the distance against a faster opponent. Let's continue."
Sabrina hit play. The competitors circled each other. Alicia took a step forward, froze in place, and looked a little blurry. There was that pause button again. "Mistake," barked Sabrina. "What did you do wrong?"
That was enough. Alicia growled back, "Listened to you."
Sabrina turned to her student, her expression one part shock and two parts anger. "Sorry, what?"
Ever so slightly, Alicia leaned forward in her chair and locked eyes with the woman behind the desk, daring her to flinch. "You didn't train me to win," said the rookie.
"I trained you and trained you, and you get in the ring and wrestle like an idiot! You look like an asshole! That is not what we practiced! Why are you out there trying to brawl like it's a damn hockey game? All of this time, what the hell did you learn?" Sabrina stood up from her chair and for once towered over her student. "Why don't you lock up? Where the hell is your footwork? It's there when we practice!"
Alicia snapped back, "It's a lot to remember when I'm getting dropped on my head!"
A smug sneer spread across Sabrina's lips. "If you'd do what I told you, you wouldn't be getting dropped on your head."
Alicia looked up to her "mentor," but only with her eyes. "All you did was train me to wrestle exactly like you used to. When am I winning? It's not when I'm applying wristlocks! You've never let me actually show off anything I'm good at."
Sabrina snarked back, "I let you lose those two matches, didn't I?" Alicia shot up out of her chair and towered over Sabrina once again. The trainer wasn't intimidated. "Seriously, what the hell was that out there? Who trained you?"
"You did!" Alicia shot back. "Here's a question: who were you training?"
Sabrina scoffed, "That's a stupid question."
"No it isn't!" Alicia retorted, her frustration turning to anger. "I told you what my strengths are. I told you what my background was! I am not your replacement. All you care about is training me to wrestle exactly like you did!"
Sabrina raised her voice to match her student's. "You call that wrestling? You're not a wrestler. You're a name on the roster. Do you know how many people want your spot-"
"You want my spot!" shouted Alicia, and watched those words tumble from her lips irretrievably into the world.
Silence.
"I'm- Sabrina, I'm sorry," Alicia stammered, trying to staunch the bleeding. She didn't know what that look on her former mentor's face was. "I- I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. I'll quit. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please, I'm going to quit, okay?"
That incensed the former champion more. Alicia's face stung before she knew why her head snapped sideways.
“Don’t you dare waste my spot, you ingrate,” Sabrina hissed. Her green eyes flashed with rage as she stomped around the desk to push her former student towards the door. “You don’t get to quit! You think I’m holding you back? Fine. Good luck in your match next week with Hellion.”
With a final shove, the ex-trainee stumbled backward into the sterile hallway. Alicia hoped she misheard. "Hellion?!"
The door slammed shut.
Alicia exited the office hallway and headed for the gym. For the first time, she didn't stop to marvel at the facility as she pushed through the door and trudged in sullen silence to the heavy bags. She'd actually never hit a bag before--only people. Still, Alicia figured, the same principles should apply, right? She planted her feet in front of a worn, heavily duct taped leather bag, tightened her fists, and threw the same right hook that nearly put Kunoichi away.
Boom.
The heavy bag swung like a pendulum, and the echo drew a startled glance from the women stationed on the nearby free weights. Alicia grabbed the bag and steadied it for another go. She bounced on her toes, trying to imitate Connie Rocket and doing an admirable job of pulling it off terribly. She never really had to worry much about footwork on the ice, at least not in the traditional sense.
Jab, jab, uppercut. Jab, jab, uppercut. Jab, jab, hook. Jab, jab, hook. She had no idea what she was doing but spent several minutes throwing punches until her breathing grew deliberate and her arms started to weigh her down. The bag jostled and swayed with each punch, but despite landing several solid shots, nothing sent it flying like that first right hook. Alicia wicked away the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, took a quick breath, then planted herself in a fighting stance and uncorked another.
Boom.
Same impressive distance–maybe even farther. A punch like that deserves a name, thought Alicia.
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.
Each impact sent the bag hurtling, requiring her to catch and steady it for another swing. Alicia recalled the saying about how a swordsman who practices one swing is scarier than a swordsman who practices a bunch of different ones, although the person she heard it from said it better. She hoped it was a saying because it was true. Guess I'm picking up ice on the way home, thought Alicia.
Boom.
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