A win is a win

(Continued from here)

Japan, Tokyo, Friction Arena, 1 hour after Katherine Hart vs Navi Florges match

Shortly after getting her back checked out (and, thankfully, hearing that her spine is fine), Navi went towards the locker room to collect her things and to start packing up to go home.

Before even changing, she checked her phone. It displayed that she had missed 1 call from her mom (to which Navi smiled, happy that either one or both her parents watched the match), and 2 from Melody, one from shortly before the match started, and one about 30 minutes ago.

Pressing on her friend's name to quickly dial her, Navi didn't wait more than 10 seconds for her friend to pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Green! Have you seen it?"

"Nah, I was watching Deadpool for the upteenth time, OF COURSE I saw your debut, Congratulations! How are you after the match? How's your back?"

"Nothing I can't live with, doctors said nothing was broken, so that's a plus., pausing for a few seconds, Navi, slightly nervous, decided to ask her friend: "Umm... Are you... angry at me for cheating?"

"For now, I'll just say it's not something I would do, I would've been VERY ANGRY if you pulled this shit on me in any of our matches, but at the same time, cheating is sort of it's own talent. Short version: I don't really care."

Navi signed a sigh of relief to her friend's comment.

"Although, I think the way she said " This isn't over" sounded like you are either going to fight Hart again or she will attack you during any of your other matches...", Melody said, remembering how her first match and it's fallout ended up.

"Let her try."

"Again, worst case scenario. What are you planning to do for the rematch, if that happens?"

"BOOM!"

A loud sound rang out as the impact of a fist met a locker just a few feet away from Navi. Kat stood there with her fist on that same locker, at the end of the aisle opposite from where Navi was collecting her things. She was still clad in her wrestling gear from the match they fought earlier. How long she'd been standing there, whether or she was waiting for Navi to come there - these things weren't immediately clear. The only thing that was certain right then and there, was that Katherine Hart was here at this time, bearing a uncharacteristically upset frown. She seemed to hit the locker nearest to her to get Navi's attention.

"Whoever that is doesn't need to be angry with you for cheating because I already am.....Get off the phone...." She said in a slow, serious tone as she began to walk towards the woman.

"HOLY SHIT!", both reacted towards a loud noise close to Navi. Even Melody jumped from the sound, despite being on the other side of the line.

Turning her head, Navi saw a very angry Kat, actually afraid of the woman for a moment.

"Is everything alright?"

"I'll call you back in a bit, Mels. A very angry cat is hissing at me", she said with a cocky grin

"Crap...Don't make things worse than they already are"

"I'll try"

CLICK!

"Haven't you heard of not interrupting people when they are on the phone? What do you want?"

Kat didn't stop walking towards Navi. She made sure to get continue her advance and get right in Miss Florges' face before making her point, making full eye contact and all. As she spoke, the Super Kitty maintained that same frown and serious tone that she appeared with.

"Look here, kid. You're not the first person to cheat your way to a victory. You're certainly not the first one to cheat me out of a match, either....You should know exactly what I want. But if you don't, let me spell it out for you. You have a decision to make. Either let that first win of your career define you as a lying, cheating coward that will take any win she can get regardless of whether or not she deserves it....or fight me again. In a rematch. And prove that you can pull that crap again and somehow win when I go all out."

Some part of Kat wanted to drop this rookie right here where she stood, but she resisted the urge. Attacking her wouldn't prove she was the better woman, it would drag her down to Navi's level. Katherine stood there waiting for a response from the woman she was accosting. She stood between Navi and her wait out of the locker room. That alone should have been enough incentive to get an answer, to get a "yes" out of her. Or at least serve as incentive, at least it did in Kat's mind.

Navi gave a rematch a thought. She couldn't lie, even not at full strength, Kat was much more skilled than her. Given a correct stipulation, however, she might actually beat the masked wrestler...

...problem is, she already beat her. Not in the fairest way, sure, but a win is a win. What was the point for her?

"If the only thing I'll get from beating you again is people in the crowd cheering for me rather than booing me, than my answer is no. And if the only difference in the actual match will be that you won't treat me like a child, then let me ask you this. Why didn't you do it now? And, as far as I know, I think I know the answer:

You don't respect me. You didn't acknowledge me as a threat and didn't think I was worth going all out for in this match. Well, that's fine. I don't respect you too, then. So I don't care if you think I am a coward.

So. As I said, I will not give you a rematch. Maybe one day, when you are the champion in this company, or I am the champion and I just have to fight you. But until then, this loss? A simple lesson: Don't look past me in a match.", she was serious throughout her whole argument.

Katherine would cross her arms and nod for a moment to formulate her response. Navi brought up a few valid points, but there were issues Kat still had to raise. She wanted that rematch. And one way or another, she was going to get it.

"Ok...Ok I see what you're saying, girl. So let me get to the heart of why this needs to happen.

If I lost because I didn't take you seriously, I'd live with it. If I lost because you cheated, I'd be pissy about it for a day or two, but I'd live with that, too....

But it wasn't either of those things. I've been sitting here in this locker room, contemplating that match for just over an hour, now. What happened out there - that was dumb luck. You didn't beat me. A crappy AFW ref beat me. And you can rationalize it any way you want, but that's what how it went down."

Kat took a deep breath before she continued. The masked wrestler assumed that Navi would fight her again with proper incentive, so she tried to think of something on the spot.

"If you need something to fight for, something to win, just name it. What do you want, Navi?" Kat would ask while pointing to the mask on her face. "This mask? Do you want a mask vs hair match?" She'd quickly place her hands on her hips and continue. "I've never been a huge fan of them, but do you want a hentai match? A POW match? Shoot, I can't think of anything else I can wager right off the bat. I wanna say I'll go all out in a rematch, that we could earn each others' respect, but I'm not a liar. And I know neither of those things are happening.

I'll win a title on my own terms. I don't need one just to get a rematch some stuck-up rookie!"

She couldn't disagree with Kat over the fact that ref screwed up big time for this match. She wouldn't be surprised if she got fired after this, although she was angry over the statement that Navi didn't beat her.

Then Kat started offering several stipulation matches to Navi, such as Mask vs Hair. She knew the cultural importance of the match, and would've gladly liked to expose Kat's face to the world...but at the same time she realized that the truth would be incredibly boring and anti-climactic.

"You want me to put this..., she waved her blonde hair at Kat "...against your freakish mask in a match? No, thank you...

Navi was actually taken aback over the suggestion of a hentai match. Part of her wanted to crack a joke about how desparate Kat was to fight her or a dirty joke of a similar caliber, and another wanted to express genuine shock over the suggestion. Eventually, the two feelings combined to create one, simple answer: "...just....Just no...". Regardless of a suggestion, she couldn't say yes to it anyway, her and Melody signed special contract with the company that prohibited anyone from booking them into this kind of match, including themselves.

POW match was much more to her liking. She heard a lot of perverted rumors about victors and losers of these matches, but having a servant for free (be it a day, a week or a month) sounded like bliss to Navi, with her not needing to do any of her chores for a period of time. Crashing back to reality, however, Melody would likely not like the idea. Knowing her friend, she would likely just help Kat with the chores if she won, so she basically won nothing in this case. "My roommate is allergic to cats, so no.", she said towards the POW match.

Finally, after hearing Kat's statement about titles, Navi grabbed her bag, and started putting her things into it. "Well then, it seems that that loss will be left as permanently unavenged in your record. Now, if you could excuse me, I would really love to get changed and go home."

Miss Hart didn't take kindly to Navi brushing off each of her suggestions, but it was to be expected. Navi got what she wanted, and at the time, she had no real reason to engage Kat again.

"Heh, I should have known better than to try and talk some sense into a cocky rookie."

As Navi grabbed her bag and began to pack he things, Kat continued with her arms crossed. "What's funny about all this is that you really think it's over. That you can just walk away and never have to face me again when the reality is that you'll have to be one of many people that learns exactly why you don't make an enemy out of The Super Kitty, Katherine Hart!"

Kat would turn her back and begin to walk away, exiting the locker room and going who knows where. Her closed fists, heavy steps, and overall body language being clear indicators that she was still very upset with Navi.

When rumors of this confrontation got around, people weren't sure what to make of all of it, exactly. But one thing was clear. Whatever this conflict was between Kat and Navi....it wasn't over.

Kat finally left Navi alone with final parting words. Navi herself grew a bit upset. Someone could've easily overheard the conversation and might start rumors. Despite wanting it to be over, the blonde felt like she's got an enemy for a while now, whether she wants to or not.

Shaking unhelpful thoughts from her head, she finally got changed and checked the keys for her rental car. She grabbed her phone and wrote a quick message to Melody

"Well, that went well. I'll be home in 30 minutes.

She started to make her way towards the parking lot in the Friction Arena, wanting to put this confrontation behind her.