Team Work chapter 246
August 14th, 2020
Stephanie fumes. Her office doesn't look different, but just the knowledge that her brother had been there, that her father had given him clearance to manage Team Work every other week eats at her. The best she can hope for is that Raw Underground would be temporary, a failed experiment that her father would eventually see the liability behind such a thing during a pandemic and can it, but for now... she's stuck with this, with her brother coming in and messing with things. She grits her teeth and tries her hardest to take a few, deep breaths, to try to find some calm before booking the night's card. "I hate this all so much," she whispers, nails scraping against the case of her laptop.
Finally, she opens the device and begins to type viciously, her eyes shining suspiciously in the glow of the screen.
Cameron Grimes kicks the night off with a decisive victory against Raul Mendoza. Erik defeats Angelo Dawkins. Santos Escobar outlasts and is the last man standing after a tenuous 14 person battle royal, not the chief person to eliminate so many in the contest, but doing what needed to be done to survive the entire match. Peyton Royce beats Tasha Steelz, and the team of Susie and Kiera Hogan win against Mercedes Martinez and Aliyah.
Ariya Daivari finds himself in a match against Sheamus. It's nerve-wracking, he hates every second of it, and Sheamus definitely does not take it easy on him. Every time Ariya gets enough space to fight back, Sheamus meets him halfway and degrades his offense even more. Ariya is gasping for breath, chest bright red after another series of Sheamus' brutality, but he's still not quite ready to gve up. Ducks, avoids what he thinks must've been another go at the Brogue Kick, wrenches up and hits Sheamus square in the jaw, rattling him. Ariya's every possible chance gets thrown back in his face, every bit of offense he accomplishes never quite lasting long enough for him to take advantage.
But then he takes a chance, leaps just right, lands just so, and Sheamus is unconscious under him following a rapid Magic Carpet Ride where Ariya hadn't bothered to stop and think, had just gone for it. And as he grabs for Sheamus' leg, he knows- feels it deep in his bones- it'll pay off. It has to... but even so, despite that knowledge filtering through his body, it's still with some shock when the bell rings and the referee confirms him as winner. He gapes, scrambles off of Sheamus before the man can come to and begin rampaging over his loss. Ariya laughs and smirks all the way up the ramp, too happy to even function somewhat normally.
Shelton Benjamin defeats Kenny Omega, and Mia Yim wins in a triple threat match over Jordynne Grace and Hikaru Shida. Orange Cassidy defeats Karrion Kross after taking advantage of his unbalanced attacks due to his injury. Bronson Reed pins Joaquin Wilde after snagging him off of a dive and suplexing him brutally, the pin all but a formality after that.
The main event pits Asuka against Bianca BelAir and Asuka tilts her head curiously when Bianca begins twirling her hair around, dancing to the ring. All fun and games ease away when the two meet face to face for the first time, however, and Asuka smirks at her, speaking abrasively in Japanese to see the woman's response. Bianca doesn't falter, however, and Asuka's eyes gleam in appreciation. When the bell rings, they get right to it, Asuka twisting a lock up into an arm submission, twisting Bianca up until she has no choice but to grab for the ropes to free herself, refusing to give up this early in the contest.
Asuka's met with a dropkick and she twists up, scraping the sole of her boot over Bianca's jaw before getting upright once more and meeting her with a sweep that takes her feet right out from under her and sticks her back into an armbar, Asuka wrenching it back as far as she can, trying to lock in the Asuka lock. Bianca fights this every step of the way, however, and eventually hoists Asuka up, slamming her down brutally against the mat.
Bianca sneers and tries to follow up with a rough of strikes and kicks but halfway through, Asuka seems to find a second wind and rears back, meeting Bianca with a strike of her own. Bianca staggers back and Asuka gets in a few solid punches, achieving even more distance and forcing herself up right. This time when she gets ahold of Bianca's arm, she slams down to the mat, crashing her opponent's forearm over her knees and Bianca cries out, rolling away, gripping just above her wrist in agony. Asuka refuses to let her go this easily, however, once more locking in the Asuka Lock and this time getting it in fully as Bianca is in too much pain to properly defend.
Asuka wrenches and pulls until the bell rings and Bianca slumps against Asuka's side, defeated and lost as she gazes up at the ceiling in frustration. Asuka immediately rolls off of her and holds a hand out after a few moments of quiet pondering, her trepidation shifting into a grin when Bianca accepts, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. This time, when Asuka yells Japanese at her, it sounds friendly. Almost encouraging.
Bianca is still sore from the loss, but still, as she walks backstage, leaving Asuka to celebrate her hard fought win in the ring, she can't help but smile. It's a lot more of a comfort to have Asuka on your side than against you.