Edgar Shaw vs. Felina Rodriguez - Never Back Down

Match Type: Standard
Victory Conditions: Victory by pinfall, submission, or KO

***

”Up high!”

Felina lashed out with two quick punch, striking the mitts on Army’s hands, hitting them in rapid succession.

”Again! Sharp!”

She came at him with another two, crashing hard, right on target. She was on point today.

”Nice! Again!”

The two Rodriguez’s were going at in the gorilla position, doing some a little quick training while they were waited for the call to come their way. Felina had a match tonight, singles action, and since Carmen was out handling some business for the gym, it fell on Army to back her up and support her at ringside. Not that he minded too much - as big a pain as his cousin could be at any given time, she was still his cousin, and when family needed you in their corner, you came running. One of the few non-boxing lessons that his father had managed to make stick on him.

He threw out a quick swipe of his own, one that Felina dodged with ease, along with the followup that came right after. While he used to and would always give her a little shit for taking a step away from the family tradition and doing kickboxing instead of going vanilla, she was in tip-top shape, all the same. Not something he would ever take away from her. ”Good, good. Ease up.” He took a quick glance towards the clock and stepped back, as he started to pull the gloves off. Less than two minutes before her match.

Felina looked ready, by all outside indications. She was dressed in her kickboxing gear, the fists tapped up, pads at the ready, focus in her eyes as she bounced from toe to toe. He figured she had good reason to be, after her last match. They put her against a guy, Marc Troyard. Well-built, chiseled, looked like he was in great shape...and she utterly destroyed him in the ring. Ever since then, she’d been on something of a high, and it didn’t look like she was coming down from it anytime soon. ”You good to go?”

”Beyond ready.” Felina threw a quick one-two combination and followed it up with a snap kick. ”You look up my guy?”

”Oh, right.” Army started to fumble through his pants pockets. ”Wasn’t much to look up, really, but…” His fingers locked on what he was looking for soon enough, and he pulled it out quick, producing a small card, one that he promptly started reading off. ”Guy’s new. Seems like a striker type from what I’ve heard. MMA, that sort of thing.”

”You see a picture of him?”

”Yeah, one. About your height, white, blonde, kinda lanky.” He shrugged, then wrinkled his nose as he recalled the memory. ”Thought he looked like something out of a-”

”Was he cute?”

Army looked up from the card just long enough to give her a glare, before he went right back to it and groaned. ”I can neither confirm nor deny any levels of cuteness.” He doubted Felina really cared a bit how Edgar looked. While she was attracted to guys, she tended to date non-fighters, not liking to mix her business and pleasure...though she wasn’t above flirting to get in a guy’s head during a match. ”Ready for him?”

”Ready to mess him up, yeah.” She threw a short wave to the stagehand who’d just popped his head around the corner. ”Let’s get to it.”

A few moments later and she was still bouncing, only she was inside the ring now, and her theme music hardly able to be heard over the rousing crowd. They were always quick to get behind a pretty face, and Felina was charming enough to win them over even if she didn’t have that, slapping hands and bumping fists. She blew a couple of kisses to some lucky guys at ringside, then made her way over to the corner for last minute stretching. More than ready to roll through whatever her opponent was bringing to the table.

He had known about his match for about a day now, expectantly he hadn't been especially pleased hear about it. It wasn't that he was concerned, no real reason since he wasn't even aware who the woman he was being put up was. The annoyance came in the call to let him know to be ready to wrestle. Early afternoon, not only interrupting his nap but he had put the call on speaker in his groggy daze. Leah had of course overheard which opened the following twenty four hours up for nonstop inquiries, words of advice, and general concerns from his sibling.

Sitting in the men’s locker room hadn’t even been enough to escape. He had told his sister he was going to take a piss and get ready about an hour ago. Since she had been lingering at the door, talking into the room and getting dirty looks in both senses of the passing men of Tension.

Leah had several papers in his hands, printed from home with various factos, statistics, and even some of Felina’s early photos from modeling in publications. She had done quite a bit of research on the woman… for Edgar. “I think this going going to be really tough, so you need to be careful!” She called through the cracked door.

Edgar shook his head as he pulled the laces of his boots tight. The advice to be careful had got an eye roll from him. He had been doing well to ignore her for the most part, hoping she would go away. By now most of the roster knew her, even if he was a bit of an enigma. Being associated with her would have been. More embarrassing if he really cared.

“She is pretty too. Like, the full package.” She flipped through her printout, setting on some shots of Felina taken from her most recent match. She looked so cool, maybe Leah would dress up as her one day. She reached up, pinching the tips of her hair. She peered up at her blond locks, going cross eyes briefly as she looked at them. Her hair wasn't quite long enough to pull off the braid though.

“Hey, Ed, what's that MMA thingie called with the like… skirt sort of tassel shorts they wear, do those have a name? I feel they should have a name.”

“Dumb. They are called dumb.” Edgar slipped from the locker room, pushing is way past Leah. It was almost time for him to get going. His sister took a few hopping steps back to let him past before skittering up alongside him.

“I am pretty sure that's not what they are called…” She pouted as she take to walk a bit faster to keep up with her brother’s long strides.

“I don't care L. Whoever she is I am going to punch her, pin her, then get some pizza or something. It's not a big deal, it's just another chick.” As they reach gorilla position his timing couldn't have been more perfect. A stagehand held up a hand, motioning a one minute warning to the twins.

"You could make that into a slogan... the three Ps. Punch. Pin. Pizza. It's catchy." Leah had moved up to the curtain to peek out, eyeing the woman in the ring and… she wasn't alone. Who was that? She consulted her pile of papers frantically. Edgar raised an eyebrow watching her fumbling about. “She isn't alone, she has some guy with her… I smell shenanigans. I am coming with you.”

Edgar snorted softly. “So she has a manager. Didn't you say she was a model or something?” He hadn't been paying too much attention when Leah had rattled off the woman's accomplishments. In truth he really didn't care who she was or what she was. Still, he humored Leah’s claims be coming up behind her to peer over her head. “Where.”

“There, in the back there.” She went to extend her arm, starting to part the curtain as she absentmindedly reached out past it only to have her forearm given a sharp sway by Edgar. She took the hint and lowered her arm.

“I see him. So what, if he tries to mess with me I’m knock his teeth out.” He gave a halfhearted shrug.

“Or… I can come down and make sure he behaves… please? I wanna help… and watch from up close.”

Edgar gave his sister a flat look. “And there is the real reason. Yeah, whatever. Come with me.”

Leah jumped up and down, twirling to hug her brother close, burying her face in his chest. “Oh thank you thank you thank you!”

“Let's go. I have someone to put in the dirt.” He gently guided his sister to the side so he could move past her.

---

Edgar Shaw:

Theme Music:

As Edgar slipped past the curtain, there was no fanfare, no high five or blown kisses. He simply walked down the ramp on his way to the ring. There had been an especially large pop during his entrance, though at had been for the girl tailing behind him who was actually stopping to wave and high five fans. He came to a stop at the bottom of the ramp, moving to the far set of stairs against the ring post. His boot clunked heavily against the metal as he made his way up to the apron to lazily step into the ring and get a good look at Felina.

She seemed to fancy herself a real fighter, dressed to the nines to really present that illusion anyway. She didn't have the look of a model… what the hell had Leah even been talking about. He snorted softly as he placed his end of the ring, scratching the side of his nose with a thumb. As far as Tension talent went, this lady looked in prime shape, unlike someone like his sister who had the appearance of some sort of smooth porcelain doll. Felina certainly looked like a hard woman by comparison. It wouldn't help her.

No doubt she was another one of those semi competent women who hopped over from Friction just to hammer a bunch of the beta ass boys that filled the dregs of the league. She was in for a rude awakening. He up tilted his chin at the woman across from him. “Hey.” He reached down for his gloves, tightening them up while flexing his fingers. “M-man, I must have drawn the short straw today… I'm still new so... please be gentle.” While anyone who knew him would understand he was full of shit at the moment, there was a good chance Felina wouldn't. It wasn't as if he was well known.

Leah had taken her spot on the sidelines, getting a closer look at Felina with a big grin on her face. Wow, she looked so cool and strong. She squinted, trying to image herself in all that gear. Her distracted mind found it's way back to reality when she overheard Edgar playing himself down to the woman causing her to frown faintly. She had her own job to do though so she started her way around the ring, moving to meet up with Army on the far side as the two competitors bantered.

Felina was just finishing up on her leg stretches when Edgar’s theme came blasting out - loud, quick, fast-paced, darkwave if her ears were spot on. The guy had a good taste in music, she could give him that much already, and she found herself thrashing her head a bit to it while he came out. She stopped right away when she saw that he wasn’t coming alone, however.

”Huh.” She squinted hard, looking down the ramp as his...girlfriend? Manager? Friend? Partner? She had no idea. ”Hey,” She looked over her shoulder and down at Army. ”Mr. Research. Who’s the bonita he’s coming down with?”

Army already had his phone out, doing a quick Google Search, trying to find out himself. ”Don’t give me that look, I did mention the whole ‘he’s new, not much information’ thing, right?” He shook his phone around a bit, as if that would somehow magically make it get better reception in the arena. ”Relax. Whoever she is, she looks about as hard as a Barbie doll. She tries anything I’ll handle it.”

Felina had her doubts about Army’s ability to handle pretty young girls, but she wasn’t in any position or mood to debate. She kept her position as Edgar made his way into the ring, sizing him up now that she could get a good look at the boy.

Not bad. The hair and the clothes weren’t her style, kind of looked like he was absorbing more than a healthy amount of Japanese culture and style, but aside from that, not bad. Decent build. Around her height and size. Promising, on the surface.

Of course, it wouldn’t matter a lick if he was a pansy. Just going off the way he was talking as she approached the center of the ring, things weren’t looking too promising. She forced a smile out, but it was a weak one, trying hard to not look too disappointed. Timid. Nervous. Looking like this was his first time ever touching a girl, much less throwing punches at one.

Oh, well. Either he’d be better than he seemed to think he would be, or she’d get another notch up on her WLD ration. She could live with either possibility. ”I don’t do ‘gentle’ so much, but I can be quick.” She raised her fist up, looking for a bump to start things off. ”Don’t worry, little man. It’ll be over soon.”

Army looked on with folded arms, trying his best to make heads or tails of Felina’s opponent. He was so wrapped up he almost didn’t notice the blonde coming his way. He caught her out of the corner of his eye when she rounded the ring, and he threw a wave her way. Keeping it friendly enough, like two people crossing paths in a mall. ”Hey, yo. What’re you, Edgar’s girlfriend or something?”

Leah made her way around the ring, eyeing army through thin slots of a hard squint. She tried to look intimidating with a tight clenched jaw and puffed up chest. It didn't really work. She was a shadow of the woman she hoped to portray, coming across more adorable if anything else. Once she rounded the ring she moved towards him with the intention to lay down the law and tell this guy he better not mess with the match.

He waved to her though, with a friendly looking smile no less. Her act fell away as her features softened to return the wave excitedly. There was a bit more bounce in her step as she moved close. “Heya~!” She gave Army a sunny smile, stopping just in front of him. She hadn't been set to wrestle tonight so she was dressed rather casual.

She wore a simple dark blue T-shirt under a pale denim jacket with a short cut hem that didn't even drop much further past her chest. There seemed to be a thick bundle of papers rolled up and sticking out of her jacket pocket though. Around her neck was a gather length of a yellow scarf, one dangling end draped to hang down in front of her. She had a short black skirt and long dark leggings that went all the way down to gathered socks at her ankle which dropped into sneakers. It was safe to say she didn't really come across as threatening.

“Girlfriend? Ew, no, gross.” She made a “bleh” face as she shook her head. “He’s my brother.” She thrust her arm out, offering her hand to Army for a shake. “What about you?” She eyed him close, she could swear she had seen him before someplace.

Edgar’s eyes flicked back and forth between Felina’s face and her outstretched fist. If he was going to play this up, he was going all out. Slowly moving in closer, he would meet her fist with his rather meekly. “I… I will try, Miss…?” He waited patiently for the bell, trying to keep the woman busy and talking to work a bit of repore with her. She seemed to think pretty highly of herself, least that was how it came across from how she carried herself. The look on her face was going to be priceless.

Army himself was dressed to fight, but then again, he was always dressed to fight when he was at the Tension arena. Boxing shorts, the boots, the taped fists, sleeveless t-shirt to show off the arms, all of it. He didn’t plan on interfering or having any action tonight - Felina would chew him out if he tried, and when she got tired, Carmen would do it all over again - but if there was one thing he learned from being a wrestler, it was that not having a match at the start of a night didn’t mean you wouldn’t have one by the end. Best to be prepared.

It would seem that whoever this woman was, she didn’t have the same philosophy. If she was a wrestler at all. She definitely seemed a lot nicer and brighter and bubbly than just about every woman he’d been in the ring with up until now.

”Cousins.” He took up her shake without much thought, then went back to focusing on the ring, where Felina was getting to know Edgar a bit better. For starters, she was learning the guy was timid - really timid. She wasn’t expecting him to hit her fist at full force, but if she hadn’t been looking, she probably wouldn't have even noticed the touch.

Nope, not promising at all. On the bright side, though, it looked like she’d be able to get out of the arena in time to beat the traffic.

”Felina, Felina Rodriguez. And it’s okay, man. My fist doesn’t bite.” Now that they’d touched, the bell rang, and Felina brought her guard up and started to move, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She smirked behind her guard and threw him a teasing wink. ”Ready to show me what you’re working with?”

Army watched this all with a shrug and a sigh, before turning back to…oh, right, introductions. ”Armando Rodriguez, by the way. Army. I looked up your brother, but I didn’t know he was doing the sibling act with anyone. Either of you wrestled before the AFW?”

"Leah Shaw, at your service Mr. Rodriguez." She chirped cheerfully giving a small bounce. While she had come down to the ring to watch Edgar's back and watch the match, she had already found herself distracted. She had a surprisingly firm handshake, respectable even for a cute little thing. She was eyeing him a bit more closely now, as if he had something on his face. "Hey... Are you..." She squinted, not sure if she was being racist or anything by asking. She was almost certain she had seen him before and the name had rang a bell. "... You aren't related to Carmen Rodriguez are you?" She had watched quite a few of the woman's matches, and she knew for a fact Edgar was familiar with him as well because of that Dasher guy he liked so much for some reason. Yuck.

Edgar was having a hard time keeping up the act but was still managing to hit it out of the park. He even had the shaky breath thing going as he stared at Felina, trying to look as though he'd never seen a woman before in his life. How some people actually went through life like this for real, was truly beyond him. Like Leah on the outside, the name struck a bell with him too for the very same reason. He had watched Dasher Inoba's challenge exhibitions more times than he could count and Carmen had been hard to forget. She had stayed locked into the clutch for a pretty long time, but in the end she was humbled. They all were. The corner of his lips twinged slightly, threatening to reveal a smirk but he held it at bay.

Were they sisters? Why hadn't Leah told him about this. What had been him just messing around suddenly became a personal investment. It had been awhile since Edgar had been motivated to do something, but this was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. Another member of this chick's family, submitted in the name of Dasher Inoba. How sweet would that be. Hell, maybe he'd even get the chance to meet the guy, shake his hand. As the bell rang he found himself snapped back into focus, staring across at Felina with new found interest in knocking her around. Tch, that wink, she thought she was being cute. He couldn't wait to drop the act and cut loose.

He raised his arms, mimicking the stance he had seen his sister use so many times. It was a risk to come at her like this, actually leaving himself open. There was a chance she saw through his act or she was just out to pummel some more dudes into the ground. He felt pretty confident he could weather whatever she had, it was a worthy gamble for being able to get and clear and early advantage. He remained in an unfamiliar grapple stance, slowly raising his left arm up and out in silent challenge for a test of strength, watching Felina expectantly.

Wow. Army had to watch it with Leah. If he stayed around her too long, he’d get cavities.

He took a moment to look at his hand, noting the surprising amount of strength she was able to put into it despite the size, difference, before she got talking again. Or stuttering, to be more specific, acting like she had something that was on the tip of his tongue. He knew exactly what she wanted to ask, too. It was a question he got a lot when he first came to Japan, and the people who asked it often said it in the same way. Leah had that look, the look of someone who wanted to ask a person if he was related to a more famous person, but didn’t want to imply that she was thinking that just because he had the same last name.

He wouldn’t have found it offensive in the least if she’d just come out and said it, really. Hell, with the last names, it was a damn safe assumption. Still, moments like this always got a little chuckle out of him. ”Yeah, Carmen’s my sister. Why, you a fan?” He was smirking her way, but it dropped a little when he saw Edgar edging his way forward. Cautious. Nervous. Slow. ”Hey, your brother, he has wrestled before, right?”

Felina was asking herself the same question, as her foe came closer, looking like he wanted to lock horns. Not that there was anything wrong with that in principle, but she would’ve been silly to accept. Grappling was her thigh, and while Edgar might've been a pansy, that didn’t make him weak. The dude had muscles. Good shape. And Army mentioned something about MMA, right?

Regardless, she knew how to work with this. Felina mirrored his stance and moved, wiggling her fingers, looking ready to lock up and test her strength…

...only to break away at the last second and jerk forward, shooting out her fist as she moved to nail him in the face with a stiff jab.

Perks up quite a bit, giving a little hop when her suspicions were confirmed. "I haven't seen too many of her matches, but I know about her. She was a Tension champion after all, it pays to know who the big dogs are." She flashed Army a big bright smile, giving him a thumbs up with her other hand. She blinked at the question, head tilting to the side. "Ed? He's not really a wrestler." She hadn't had the intention to mislead Army, to her, it was true. Her brother had always been more of a boxer than a grappler. She hadn't really thought to clarify, given the question had been about specifically wrestling. His reasoning for asking hadn't been apparent to her, focus so far from the match the two things didn't click.

he wasn't sure if she was buying it at first, he had made it all the way mid ring, letting her do the rest. She came, though it seemed slightly reluctant. Had she caught on? He wasn't sure but the lack of gusto to try and take advantage of the meek persona he had been pushing didn't pass him by. She was having doubts, which was understandable. There were a few string bean dudes in Tension who looked like a stiff breeze would knock them over but if they got their hands on you in a submission, it was good night. Apparently Leah had fought someone like that, but he didn't care to ask for details. As she met her raised hand her slipped his fingers with hers, slowly starting to offer the other hand.

He saw it coming, but it wasn't enough. His footing was wrong, his arms were parted... she was cheap shotting him before he could do it to her. What a cheeky bitch! Be leaned back, not enough to avoid the punch but the backwards momentum of his retreat had taken some of the sting out of it. It hadn't helped much at the end of the day, this woman knew how to punch. There was still a chance to use this, the last attempt to salvage his hard work of playing pussy. It could be she had been testing him, poking the bee hive with a stick, so he rolled with it.

Edgar dropped to one knee, clutching his face with her free hand, even though his other had remained gripped two Felina's from the failed test of strength. He let out a tortured yell, overselling the crap out of the stiff punch as he subtly watched the woman looming over him through the gaps between his finger. He shook a bit... it almost sounded like he was crying? Oh jeez. He hadn't remained down for too long though. His grip would suddenly tighten on Felina's hand as her tried to yank her forward towards him as he rose up, body twisting to drill his right fits deep into her stomach, looking to amplify the damage by using the forward tug of the woman to practically impale her with the might blow. he would have preferred to land one on her chin, but crippling her breathing would give him the opportunity to repay her for sucker punching him.

Not much of a wrestler, huh? Army looked from Edgar to Lean and back to Edgar again, just in time to see the guy take a nasty punch in the face. It wasn’t anything more than a jab, sure, and Felina’s jabs were far from the hardest in the family, but an unprotected shot to the face sucked, no matter who was throwing it. In this case, Edgar took it all straight on the nose, with predictable results. Down on his knees. Aching.

Though, there was something off about it, something that only a trained boxer would even think to notice. It had been slight, but Army could’ve sworn he jerked back at the punch, reducing the impact. It might not have looked like much, but it wasn’t the easiest movement to pull off. The timing had to be right, the reflexes had to be flawless. Not something any scrub could hope to pull off, and Felina should’ve been smart enough to pick up on it.

But she didn’t. She raised her other arm, ready to follow up, when she heard Edgar whimpering below her, looking about as pathetic as a man could get. A few laughs came from the crowd, and she rolled her eyes along with them, chuckling under her breath. ”Geez, dude, I barely even-”

She never saw the punch coming. One moment Edgar was down and reeling and everything was fine, then the next came and his fist was embedded in her gut. Felina’s abs were tough and toned, strengthed by countless hours of labor, but the strike sliced through them and stirred up her innards, hitting with enough force to lift her off feet.

”Shit, Felina!” Army banged his fist against the apron as his cousin fell to her knees, coughing and gagging all the way, her spittle decorating the canvas. She tried to form words, voice her surprise, but her body prioritized refilling her lungs and devoted most of its operations towards that.

Geez. That was all she had to say after taking her cheap shot eh? Geez. Yeah, okay tough girl, now it was time to see what she had to say about him now. What started as him wanting to put a random woman in her place had found him face to face with someone he had come to make a example of.

She wasn't a individual to him right now, just another woman trying to play with the big boys. Any shred of him that may have felt bad for her had vanished with that sicker punch, now he was justified in the beating he was going to give this girl.

Edgar twisted he fist as it sunk deep into her abdomen as he leaned in close so she could hear his soft quiet sobs slowly warp into a laugh. "Tag... You're it." He smirked smugly as he let her slip his grasp to drop to her hands and knees on the canvas. He reached out slapping Felina upside the head as he walked to her side. His free hand massaged his face, hissing at the lingering sting from her punch.

"Geez... You going to be okay? You look like you're having trouble. Let me give you a hand." Edgar brushed back a bit of Felina's hanging bangs before his fingers combed through her hair to find her braid and grab ahold firmly. He yanked hard, pulling her upright on her knees. He held up his right hand, balling it into a tight fist. He placed his lips to his knuckles, giving it a small kiss accompanied with a wink to return hers from earlier. "Pucker up sweetheart."

He braced himself for the long haul, hunching a bit as he twsited his upper body to deliver a vicious hook to her face. He wouldn't end with one, hammering Felina with blow after blow as long as she remained unable to protect herself. The referee however would step in, issuing Edgar a warning for his hold of Felina's hair as he attempted to pummel her. The official would start a DQ count, shouting at Edgar to let go of her hair.

If Felina proved unable to defend herself, he would let her go finally, her braid slipping from between his fingers. Rather than let her simply fall to the mat, he took a step back to throw his leg out to boot her in the chest to send her sprawling.

Leah jumped at Army's reaction to what happened in the ring. Blinking she turned to look as well, walking up beside him to stare at the sudden change that had taken place. She cringed a bit, looking off to the side, it was clear she didn't want to watch this part.