Yona Giovanni Meets Aya Zahara: Shortcuts to The Fall

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The Graceful Undead was only two days away from her third match against her rival, Renee Staunheiser. Throughout the week, she's had her fun, but she believed it was about time she put a lid on everything else for now, and focus on her big moment; everything she had been working for ever since she had arrived at AFW. She had arrived a depressed, terrified, and emotionally vulnerable mess, yet eventually found her footing and even opened herself up to the idea of teamwork. Yona wasn't sure she had fully left any room for weakness when it came to her confidants, but she felt pretty confident enough to call Phoebe, Iris, and even, Hazel as friends. That's why she had to spend her second paycheck from her group matches on her so-called friends. After all, they were kind enough to split their share of the money with her, despite not being eligible for any sort of monetary gain, for now.
She took the risk of going by herself to a massive supermarket in broad daylight. She had already spent forty minutes looking around for gifts that she thought would be perfect for her partners, but was struggling a bit to find her inner understanding of them. In all honesty, she didn't even fully understand people, even though she raised her younger brother for most of her own childhood. It actually brought some memories to mind; she never really understood her brother either, she mainly went off of notes her mother left behind when she abandoned them. Yeah, she abandoned them, alright. She recalled the idea that she had then and there, her eyes widening with dismay. However, it wasn't anything she wasn't mentally prepared for. Yesterday, she had managed to gain more information on Sydney Giovanni, figuring out that she was a former wrestler, who, just like her mother, vanished. She knew without a doubt, Sydney had to be her mother, if not, then a relative. However, after a while, she eventually hit a roadblock, and decided to give up on the search. She figured that it was better that she didn't know anything else about her family. There was no doubt that her ancestors were freaks, and frankly, just strange people.
She shook her head, returning to her search for the perfect gifts. However, all of a sudden, a woman tapped on her shoulder and asked if she needed help. She wasn't an employee, and she definitely didn't seem like someone who would be shopping in a place like this. Yona declined her assistance; trying to walk away of fear of being noticed by her wrestling persona. It was certainly a possibility she's prepared for, but not willing to put the energy into.
"That's a rather rude way to treat family now, isn't it?" the mysterious lady remarked, placing a hand on her hip as she scoffed in amusement at her own joke.
Yona stopped dead in her tracks, the woman managing to claim her interest. She could tell from her tone and attitude that she was trouble; too composed, even when she's just revealed that they're related. It seemed like she had sunk herself into a strange conspiracy that she wasn't quite sure she wanted to be involved in; family or not. But, against her better judgement, she played along with the stranger.
She turned over to get a good look at the woman, analyzing her features, "Sydney.. Giovanni, is it?"
"Ah, yes. I haven't heard that name in a while. No, I'm not a Giovanni, but one thing, I am is your aunt."
"You're that lady.. You're something that took care of me once! Black hair, and pale skin—Louise Heisenberg?!"
The woman looked down in pain, a crack in her sadistic armor showing, "Hmm, that was someone else. This is actually our first time meeting. Sucks to say, we never got to have a family reunion—that's soon to change, though!"
"What do you mean? Who are you?"
"I'm Aya Zahara, but you could call me Auntie," She muttered under her breath, hugging Yona from behind.
"Please don't touch me," Yona growled, shoving her away, "It's nice to meet you and all, if you really are my relative, but at the same time, I don't want anything to do with any of you guys."
Yona tried to subtly walk out of the isle, where there were more people, beginning to feel a sinister feeling in her chest, but Aya slithered her way in front of her.
"Independent. I respect that. It's a shame to hear though, since I came to offer you a seat in an elite organization that helps run AFW, which is, where you work after all, right?"
"Leave me alone. If you're a fan, just do what everyone else does and suck my dick."
"Oooof~ fierce too! If you're still hesitant on our relation, let me bring in an old friend of yours, eh?" She giggled, snapping her fingers. Soon, a familiar referee came out from the next isle, kneeling down in respect for both women.
"This doesn't prove much of anything, I barely even trust that man as anything other than someone who wants to ask me for a 'favor' down the line."
"Gross," the man groaned under his breath.
"Wha-?!" Yona gasped, shooting a dirty glare at him; one of her eyebrows raised sternly at the man.
"The point is, we've been keeping track of you for a while now. I think that's enough to prove that I have some authority in AFW, and that's something you'll need in your war against Renee, right?"
"How do you-"
"I was the one who offered Renee the job at AFW! All of it for your success, so don't let my good will go to waste; beat her, and let go of this sappy group shit. Those girls of yours, not going to make it long with us."
"The fuck did you-"
"Sh-sh-sh-sh, my sweet little niece~ Trust that your aunt will always look out for you. Make it your philosophy if you have to—You aren't alone, Yona, when you have me and plenty of other jerk offs like Danny over there-"
"Hey!" Danny interrupted; Aya continued to talk over him, "You want to become the strongest, right? I was the same at your age, and look at me now-"
"Probably a cult leader?"
"That! But I'm also everything you want to be. I can give you that power, Yona. After all, your aunt is one of the founders of AFW."
"Fuck off, you aren't shit, and I'm doing perfectly fine on my own."
"Would your very naive plan to trap Renee and fix your image have worked without me? After all, I let both of you in MY branch when LAW rejected you, Yona 'Zahara' Giovanni!"
"Just like how I'm rejecting you?!" Yona shouted, shoving Aya away; Danny coming to her rescue to carry the founder in his arms.
Yona took the opportunity to run off, Danny quick to notice and place Aya down; immediately following after the foul-mouthed brunette. He was fast, snatching Yona by the hand, and pulling her back. He wrapped his arms around her, and hid the both of them near the shadows of a nearby corridor.
"Hey-Hey-Hey, listen. We aren't going to force you to join, but in my humble opinion, you should at least consider the offer. This is what you've been working for your whole life, right? Why let go of this great opportunity to ACTUALLY be on top? Right?" Danny argued, trying to persuade her. It seemed to, at the very least, calm her down as she looked over at him and slapped the young man. However, she stayed there and let her eyes dart around the building, eventually nodding her head. After that, the two walked their separate ways, Yona deciding to venture to other stores to finish her hunt for gifts, wanting to take what she's learned and shove it in a box, and let the box rot away in a closet for as long as she could.
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END OF ARCHIVE.