Makie Akamatsu vs. Armando 'Army' Rodriguez - Let's You and Him Fight, Part 2

Army balled up the wrapper and tossed it into the trash can, about ten feet away, It hit the rim, rolled around the edge, and...fell to the floor. "Shit." He got up and went over to catch the layup.

"I'll make the same promise." He shrugged and went for an over-the-shoulder shot with the wrapper. Missed that, too. "Shit." Army gave up and just tossed the stupid thing in. Losing his touch. "But yeah, won't get too cray, wouldn't want to have your fanboys coming after me. Or, well, fangirls, too. AFW, so you probably have a lot of both." He paused and blinked. "Come to think of it, I probably do, too. They're doing more guy-on-guy matches these days, so...yeah."

He just had a few creepy thoughts that weren't fit to be repeated in polite company.

"Well, I don't know how huge they expect it to be when there's only two of each in the league and our familes are seperated by, like, a billion gallons of waters, but yeah. It's a little silly. Would make for a good movie, maybe. That being said, though..." Army sat down across from her and leaned in, with a little wild fire in his eyes. "My family would totally win. No offense. Just saying."

Makie initially smiled at Army's comment, especially about the whole movie bit. It gladdened her to hear that Army thought the whole match idea was contrived and stupid. She'd get this match out of the way, she figured, so that the two of them could get on with their lives and be good friends, without any stupid soap opera rivalry between them--

She paused, and stiffened, at that point, when Armando made his boast. "What?" She straightened up in her chair. "Okay, okay, hold up...I know that this whole rivalry thing is stupid, but...what the hell makes you think your family would win?"

Army could've sworn the temperature just dropped.

"Well," He propped his foot up on the chair beside him and leaned back. "There's the numbers game, for one thing. Big family. But we've got the boxing down to an art, and we've been at it for over a century. You guys seem more spread out with your stuff. A lot of different styles, nothing too specific. On the other hand, the punches I throw are decades in the making. Taught from my father, learn from his father, and his, and his. We're like the Spartans, designed for the ring. You can't beat that, and it's not a knock on you - nobody can."

It took Makie a few seconds to realize she was glowering at Army. He was likeable enough before, but, now that he was saying that stuff about her family...

"You're...joking, right?" She leaned forward in her seat and met Army's gaze. "You seriously think that diversity in style is a weakness? Listen, boast all you want, but from where I'm standing, your family has just limited themselves to one good thing, and nothing else. I can perform aerial combos, my brother can tie people in knots with submissions and counter people's bullshit, my brother can combine offensive striking with grappling. And I'm not even going to get into my mom who's a judo champion, or my dad who can slice a leaf in midair with a stick, or all of the other family members of mine who have their own unique skill."

She folded her arms. "You may be designed for the ring, buddy boy, but not for the wrestling ring. I can strike, counter grapple, lock in submissions, do slams, throws, but you? All you can do is punch things really hard. That's it."

Huh. That escalated quickly.

Army was originally put off by the sour look on Makie's face, but his moved in a similar way when she started talking about things she clearly didn't know much about.

"I like how you say you're not going to get into your Mom and Dad, while you're getting into them. There's probably a fancy word for that sort of thing in Japanese. In English, it's just 'bullshit'." He folded his arms and looked her over from head to toe.

"I thought you watched the Hana match? Because I can do all that stuff. Slams, throws, whatever. It's not that hard, I picked it up fast. And all that judo and sword stuff is nice, but like you said - I punch really hard. You can throw me around all day, but if all I need is one good punch to end it..."

He let that sentence finish itself and shrugged. Self-explanatory.

Makie's face now creased in visible anger as Army scoffed at her. "Excuse me? I only brought them up because you decided to go and make a big deal of it!" she huffed. "What did you expect me to say? 'Oh, I'm totally not going to bring my family into this even though you're making an unfair comparison?' That is bullshit."

As Army went on, Makie stabbed her fork down into the fries with an air of finality. "Except you won't be getting that punch in, you know why? Because your entire fighting style revolves around getting that punch in. It doesn't matter if you can switch things up a little, you're a boxer. I'm a wrestler. I have way more ring experience at this sport than you do, big guy!"

Stares were getting turned their way now. Whispers. It wasn't like this was some new thing - wrestlers were always starting backstage stuff, getting in brawls. It was rarely before they had a match, though, and this little flare up was starting to draw a circle.

Army barely noticed them. He was more focused on Makie. She wasn't an easy one to ignore.

His eyes went into a full roll. "Pfft, so did Hana." He was quick to snap back to her and raise a finger, leaning forward to meet her burning eyes with a pair of his own. "And yeah, I lost that match, but I came damn close against a girl who's about three of you put together. And since then? Yeah, I've gotten better. Picked up some new stuff. So if Hana could barely get the job done back then, what makes you think you can get the job done, now?"

Makie felt her blood boil at Army's comment. It wasn't like he was saying anything truly incendiary or outrageous, it was just the tone he was using-- that superior, self-satisfied smugness he had-- that really set her off. The fact that he had initially come across as a likable guy was immediately forgotten as she balled her fists.

"You still lost," she growled. "And if you think your size is going to give you an advantage, then you don't know me at all. You think you're a hotshot because you came close against a new girl who was actually large enough for you to hit-- that's it. You're lucky I agreed not to go all out on this, Rodriguez, so don't push it-- if we were to go all out in that ring, I would bury you."

Army laughed.

Okay, it was an obvious fake laugh for the most part, but there was some real amusement there. Makie talked good junk. Better than most of the people he'd fought in the AFW, so far. He was always shooting shit with the guys he boxed back home, so this was all familiar to him in so many ways. Granted, most of those guys could look him straight in the eye without standing on a chair, but it was close enough.

"Hey, you want to go all out, go all out - that way, you don't get a single excuse when I get the pin. One, two, three." He ticked it off with his fingers and stood up, grabbing his gym bag as he rose. "You think you got what it takes? Let's go and find out. Can't wait to prove you wrong."

Makie couldn't beleive this. Army was laughing at her! She could tell that it was a partly genuine laugh too-- she knew enough trash talk herself to know a genuine laugh when she heard it. Army had started out as a nice enough guy, viewing her matches and expressing his admiration and respect for her, and now, in the space of a few minutes, he was openly mocking her! This would not stand-- she was going to make him take her seriously, one way or another.

"Fine!" Sweeping her fries aside, Makie stood up opposite Army, hoisting up her own gym bag. "I'll see you in the ring, then, if you think you're hot shit. Then everyone will get to see a Rodriguez lose to an Akamatsu for a second time!"