To say Valentine felt out of place was a bit of an understatement. Her eyes scanned the luxurious dining room around them, and as they dud, she couldn't help but feel a bit…self-conscious.
She looked over to her partner for the night, seeing the New Yorker looking at her with a grin.
"You, uh, you sure 'bout this?" Valentine asked as she looked down at the pantsuit she wore. The boxer was no stranger to more formal wear, but something about the resort she found herself in made her feel…,"Feel like I'm stickin' out like a sore thumb."
Tabitha, the woman accompanying Valentine on this trip, grinned and set a hand on Valentine's shoulder.
"Relax! We'ere t'have fun! 'Sides, ya wanted t'see a show fo'yerself, right?"
"Well, yeah…"
Tabi gave Val's shoulder a playful push.
"Then let's find a table an have a good time!"
Valentine couldn't help the small smile her lips shaped into, leading the way as she found a vacant table to occupy. It wasn't long before the two were settled into their seats and dinner was ordered, though not without a bit of tension to it.
"You, uh, ya min' coverin' fer me?"
"...seriously?"
"Look! I, uh, fuhgot how 'xspensive this place is!"
Valentine rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I gotcha. This time."
Tabitha smiled, causing Valentine to roll her eyes again, though with a smile as she did. Orders were placed, and shortly afterwards, a meal was enjoyed. The Hawaiian boxer hummed in appreciation as she and her friend dined. The quality of the meal, despite how good it was, she couldn't help notice the feeling of being a fish out of water growing. She took another look around at the dining room, taking in the sights of the opulent design and the formal nature of the other patrons continuing their own meals. This was certainly a place she wouldn't often find herself in.
Then her eyes fell on the ring, and a good chunk of that feeling dried up. She remembered the real reason Tabitha brought her here, and began to wonder when the show would begin. A man stepped through the ropes as she finished her mental question, and a trio of rings from a bell out of her sight filled the air. Everyone that wasn't Valentine turned their attentions to the announcer in the ring.
"Ladies, gentlemen and non-binary folk! We here at the Maltre Hotel thank you all for your patronage, and appreciate you for spending your evening with us! The honor is all ours. As part of our thanks for your attendance tonight, we present to you: THE FOLLOWING CONTEST, WHICH IS SET FOR ONE FALL!"
The crowd began to clap and cheer, which Val found herself joining in with. Then, the music came.
watch?v=AsyNCCc_OH8
[If published for the public, remove the link and replace with 'Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links: Alexis Rhodes Theme begins to play']
The cheers grew louder as a cloud of smoke began to billow out from the entrance ramp. A couple of seconds later, the proprietor of the Maltre business umbrella emerged from the smoke, her signature laugh just barely undercut by the music that played through the dining room.
"Oh-hohohoho~!"
She made her way to the ring, smiling and flexing her arms to the crowd as she did. Valentine's clapping stopped, and she found herself engrossed in the appearance of the Frenchwoman. Eclaire herself wasn't the reason she found herself sinking in. Not entirely, anyway.
No, what attracted her was the *spectacle* of it all. The lights. The music. The lights. The showmanship of it all. The diners, none of whom looked as though they would even be caught dead at a wrestling show, were eating it up just as much as she was, cheers and applause accompanying the titanic wrestler's entrance.
watch?v=k1Pn4jit4DI
[If published for the public, remove the link and replace with "CEMICAN - Mixteco begins to play"]
The shift in tone, both with the lighting and the music, drew Val's eyes back to the entrance ramp, where another woman began to make her way to the ring. Her appearance was a stark contrast to Eclaire's, being smaller in stature. This new wrestler, Tayanna according to the ring announcer, seemed much more focused than Eclaire. She glared with an intense heat as she stepped between the ropes. Valentine made a note that this new person was very clearly proud of their Hispanic heritage, as evidenced by the Aztec-inspired gear she wore to the ring, and the facepaint she revealed when she removed her war mask.
Valentine watched as the two competitors finished their prep for the match, removing any extraneous gear they needed to and performing last minute warmups.
Then, at the referee's signal, the bell rang out, and the match was on.
The world seemed to fade out to Valentine as she watched the match play out. Nothing else seemed to matter more than Tayanna exploding out of the blocks, rushing Eclaire down and catching the hotelier unprepared with a barrage of forearms to the head. The sudden offense pushed the larger woman off balance, allowing Tayanna to drive her into the corner, where she climbed onto the second rope to continue the assault.
After a few seconds of hammering away, Tayanna looked down at Eclaire, seeing the blonde appear dazed from the blows. Tayanna hesitated for a moment, thinking of what to do next. She only paused for half a second.
Half a second more than she could afford.
Eclaire's arms snaked their way under and around her attacker's legs as she stood up straight, lifting a surprised Tayanna into the air. The crowd cheered as Eclaire marched to the center of the ring before pushing the HIspanic wrestler up, then down to the ground in a vicious powerbomb.
Tayanna lay on the ground writing and clutching at the back of her head while Eclaire smiled, pacing around the ring for a moment and posing for the cheers of the crowd. Before long, Tayanna recovered, getting to her feet. Seeing Eclaire showing off touched a nerve, pushing the HIspanic woman to attack the blonde from behind.
The next ten minutes of the match drew Valentine in. Somewhere in the background, she heard Tab mention something about it looking like a "squash match," whatever that was supposed to mean. The boxer's eyes and mind, however were focused on the athletic display in front of her.
Each time Tayanna seemed to get some kind of offense going, she felt her mind pick up the pace with her. Every dropkick, every leaping attack, every time she sped by the hotelier, Valentine couldn't help but anticipate every blow. And each time Eclaire struck back, she couldn't help but wince along with Tayanna. The French wrestler certainly didn't have the speed that her opponent did, but she more than made up for it by proving that her muscular stature was definitely not for show. For every three moves that Tayanna managed to hit her with, Eclaire may have only answered with one, but that one was more than enough to make up for any lost ground.
Powerbombs, powerslams, vicious lariats and clotheslines, even Military Presses. Any move that could put her strength and power on display was used, and just like any of Tayanna's maneuvers, they left an impression on Valentine.
"Oh-hohohohoho~!"
Before long, Eclaire let out a piercing laugh as Tayanna struggled to get to her feet from the ring mat. The crowd's cheers grew in intensity, followed by a pointed hush as Eclaire took a position behind Tayanna, crouching down a bit with a smirk on her face. As soon as the smaller wrestler pushed her way up to her feet, Eclaire struck, lifting the speedster back-first onto her shoulders. She stood up with Tayanna, letting the HIspanic fighter writhe and cry in agony for a moment before dropping down to her backside in a muscle buster, completing her finisher, the Navaratna. Another burst of cheers erupted as Eclaire, from her seated position, gracefully leaned back into a pin, blowing kisses to the onlookers as the referee counted the
"One! Two! Three!"
The bell rang to signal the end of the match, and Valentine found herself joining the people that stood to applaud the entertainment and their hostess for the evening. While she cheered, Tabitha walked up to her side.
"Soooooo…?"
Valentine turned to Tabitha with a wide grin on her face.
"I want in."
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