The Valley Doll Entropy Championship Open Invitational #3

Valley never knew that a belt could be so heavy.

There she sat in the gorilla position, waiting for the commercial break to be over, dressed in her wrestling out with the belt on her lap. It didn’t feel like it weighed all that much on a physical level, just sitting there. Metal and leather, nothing much to it.

But her aching bones knew better. She still carried the lingering pains of her match with Emily Nelson, and before that, she’d carried the lingering pains of her match - or brawl, more accurately - with LEA.  She hadn’t thought it would be hard after she won the belt, that her opponents wouldn’t be that much tougher than they had been before. Maybe they weren’t, not really - but they fought harder. They wanted the belt bad. A woman fighting for a belt was different than the one fighting for another notch on the ranks.

She had to go through hell to get it. She’d have to keep going through hell to keep it. At least tonight would  be different, if things happened the way she expected them to.

A couple of minutes later and she was in the middle of the ring with a smile on her face and the belt on her shoulder, lapping the ring as the crowd cheered. Their energy was one of the main reasons she kept going with this. It was a lot easier to come out and put your body on the line when thousands of fans were cheering you on.

”Tokyo!” She stood in the center of the ring and raised her belt to the sky. ”Hello and welcome to another edition of the Valley Doll Entropy Championship Open Invitational!”

The crowd gave back a raucous roar, claps and cheers all around. Her little segment was one of the higher rated parts of Friction, giving the show a ratings spike whenever she did it. Everybody loved a surprise and everybody loved a good match, so it delivered on two fronts.

”Before we start, I’d like to give a little shout out to my last opponent.” Valley sighed and let the belt rest on her shoulder once again, as she calmly strolled in a circle. ”People always ask me why I like fighting the Wrestle Angels so much, and some of the diehard fans even think I’m trying to make a statement. That’s not the case, really.” Valley wagged a finger. ”I like taking on the Wrestle Angels because they’re some of the best female wrestlers in the business today, and Emily Nelson just helped proved that. She gave her everything, she took it straight to me, and if I’d been just a little off my game, well…I might not be here tonight.”

Valley nodded and the crowd went along with her, giving a slower, more thoughtful clap for Emily. The fans had been expecting a taste of Valley’s matches with Natasha from that bout, and they’d gotten it. Calling it a ‘match’ almost seemed wrong. Emily had taken her on in a two-woman war.

”But I was the better woman that night, and I say I’m still the best woman tonight!” Valley turned her attention to the entrance. ”And just like before, I’m willing to put that to the test. But not just against anybody - tonight, I want a special sort of opponent.” She took a step forward and pointed straight at the entrance, making every eye follow it. ”See, lately, Friction’s been getting a lot of new talent. Women coming here to make their mark and stand out. I respect that. I respect it so much, that tonight I want to give one of you the opportunity to do something that’s never been done before: to win a belt in your very first match. So, if you’re brave and bold enough, your shot at making history is waiting for you.”

Valley took the belt off and thrust it forward, letting the golden metal shine in the blinding lights. ”Just come out here and take it.”

With that done, Valley stepped back and enjoyed her favorite part of this - the waiting. The anticipation. Not knowing who would come walking out of those curtains or what she’d have to deal with. A part of her hated the surprise, but a bigger part loved the challenge.

Ava's theme music announced her presence long before the pink haired Canadian had even appeared on the ramp, and the unfamiliar tune stirred a wave of murmurs and whispers to ripple through the crowd. These died into a dead, awkward silence as the newcomer emerged onto the ramp, armed with a friendly smile and a jovial wave that she sent out to anyone and everyone in the audience.

The silence was slowly replaced by confused shouts and jeers from some, scattered applause from others. Who was this girl, and why did she think she had any business here. No one seemed to know who she was, let alone why she thought she could take home a belt. Valley had called out the new talent, but wasn't this just a little too new?

Not even a match to her name, and yet here the newcomer was, striding down confidently to the ring as if there wasn't any other place she could imagine being. There were those in the audience, if the audience's reaction was anything to go by, that didn't think she had any business being there, but Ava didn't care. One shout in particular made her grin just a little brighter.

"Who are you?" Came a call from somewhere in the stands, and it was echoed from several other spots in the audience. They didn't even know her name! But it didn't matter, they'd know soon enough. After all why waste time with a small debut when she could just go all the way?

Soon Ava had pulled herself up into the ring and motioned over a ref to bring her a mic so she could make her response to the Entropy Champion. The ref too seemed confused by her presence, and was slow to respond, but that didn't matter - Ava was a patient woman. She stood there in what might have been an awkward silence for anyone else, but the Canadian wasn't phased and just sent a friendly wave out to Valley, the ref, and anyone who cared enough to watch.

"Hi Valley, nice to meet you, big fan! Name's Ava Landry," She spoke, having finally been delivered a microphone as silence fell on the ring. "And I just want to let you know that if that belt's feeling too heavy for you, I'll happily take it off your hands!" She exclaimed, shooting a friendly smile over to the current champ.

No matter what happened next, Ava was satisfied. Win or lose the upcoming match, at least everyone would know her name after tonight.

Valley didn’t recognize the song that came out of the loudspeakers next, but that was actually a good thing. She’d hoped her request would be respected by the locker room, and that she’d get a genuine fresh face for a challenger. She was familiar enough with Friction’s rotation to know this theme had never played before, so she leaned over the ropes and waited to see what sort of opponent she was getting.

What she got was bright looking woman. Solid frame, strong shoulders, confident stride. If she was bothered by the confused and derogatory reaction she was getting from the crowd, she didn’t show it - she moved like she had every right to be here, which she did. This was exactly what Valley had wanted. While she seemed older than Valley had been when she started wrestling, she could still see some of the hallmarks of a rising contender - the desire to make a name for yourself, the possibility of becoming an instant star. If the two of them had switched places, she wouldn’t have been able to run down that ring fast enough.

Valley leaned against the turnbuckle and let her opponent introduce herself, detecting a little Canadian in her voice. A good chance to tie things into the Friction World Cup, on top of it all.

When she was done, Valley brought her microphone back up, tapped her chin, and spoke.”Hey, Ava - welcome to the AFW. “ She gave the newcomer a small smile and a nod. ”And this belt’s quite comfortable on my shoulder, but if you’d like to try and take it off, well...let’s see how things go, shall we?”

Valley pushed out of the corner and started to leisurely stroll about the ring, circling Ava and taking the time to measure her up. She had the height advantage. Definitely stronger, though both of her other challengers had been, too, so that wasn’t too big of a deal. The question was how she used the strength she had, and she had a good feeling her next question would shed some light on that. ”So, as you may or may not know, the Entropy Title allows me to pick any challenger I want, but my challenger gets to pick the match type. What’re you in the mood for, Ava?”

Ava responded with a grateful smile and nod after Valley had welcomed her to the league. Taking a step back, the Canadian freely handed over centre stage to the Entropy champ, lowering her microphone as she listened intently to the blonde speak.

Ava had been keeping an eye on the current champ from the moment that she'd walked into the ring, wanting to get a feel for what shew was like. Now, she'd seen matches, it wasn't as if she thought that Valley was secretly a cackling heel, but the TV only showed you so much, and some things you could only tell in person. Here, up close, Ava watched how Valley moved, how she talked, how she carried herself, and she could tell with each smooth step Valley made and each word the champ spoke that she had a tough fight up ahead of her.

Still, the Canadian held herself high, watching Valley circle her with that same friendly smile she liked to keep plastered on her face. She wouldn't give away any intimidation she felt in the American's presence, instead she just stood, and patiently waited for her chance to make her choice of match type.

Once Valley had asked the fateful question, Ava drew it out just a bit, having some fun. To be perfectly honest, she'd been thinking about this choice since she heard the challenge go out, but she felt like playing with the audience for a moment, keeping them in suspense. The Canadian tapped her chin thoughtfully, before slowly and purposefully bringing the mic back up. "You know Valley, I think I'm feeling a submission match."

As she lowered the mic again, waiting for the American's response, Ava couldn't help but stand a little taller and smile a little brighter as she heard the crowd cheer for the first time since she'd walked out here.