Twist of Fate

Yoona Park and Camille Cosworth stood in doorway watching Kanako Akiyama batter a heavy bag on the far end of the gym. The couple felt that their friend needed a talking to in light of her recent penchant for violence, though there was some hesitation on how the message should be delivered.



“So… umm… how do you think we should do this?”



“Just let me do the talking, Cam,” Yoona reassured. “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and I know exactly what to say.”



Camille rolled her eyes and sighed, “You’re just going to make it up as you go along.”

“Yeah, I’m going to just make it up as I go along.”



Park didn’t give her girlfriend any chance to protest further, and she walked towards Kanako with arms open while she called, “Ayyyyyyyyy, there’s my rookie of the year!”





Akiyama stopped beating on the bag, then she made sure to soften her expression before she turned and greeted her friends.



“And there’s my wrestler of the year,” she said with a smile, though the hard glint in her eyes made it clear that she wasn’t in a jovial mood.



“So, listen, buddy, it’s been a while and I thought we could --”



“Save it, Yoona. Don’t need a lecture,” Kanako interrupted. “I heard you and Cam talking it over for the last five minutes, and thanks, but no thanks. I’m good without the psych session.”



The Japanese wrestler turned to leave, but the other two women shifted to block her path. Exasperated by their persistence, Akiyama gave a snort and folded her arms across her chest, then she silently waited for them to say their piece and be done with it.



“You ain’t good, Akiyama! Don’t give me that horseshit!” Yoona huffed, abandoning all pretense and adopting a much more challenging tone. “I don’t know what’s going on in your head, but you need to stop trying to murder-kill everyone you come across!”



“Oh, that’s rich, coming from someone who --”



“I do what I do to people who deserve it, Akiyama! And you do too! Lethbridge? Sure, she had it coming! Allison and Piper? Yeah, fuck those bitches! Marvela Marcille, Eva May, and Kate Grimm? Goddamn it, I don’t even know who those people are but those are some real cunt names, so fuck those bitches too! But what the shit were you thinking when you went all Death, Destroyer of Worlds on Charlie Fucking Dawson?!”



“It’s… uhh… it’s Bianca Simpson…” Camille sheepishly corrected, prompting her girlfriend to stare at her in wide-eyed disbelief. “Despite the internet rumors, they’re not actually the same person, y’know.”



“Blonde?” Park asked.



“Yes, although there are many --”



“Looks like some pedo’s wet dream come to life?”



“That’s not quite the way I’d put it --”



“Never FUCKING wins, EVER?”



“Well, no, but she tries hard and --”



“How is that NOT Charlie Dawson, Cam?” Yoona snorted.



“They’re just different people, okay?! I admit there are some similarities but -- Kanako, wait!” Camille shouted when she noticed that Kanako had slipped away unnoticed.



“Ugh, darn it…!” Cosworth groaned as she jogged off after Akiyama. “Stay there, Yoona! Let ME doing the talking this time.”



She caught up with Kanako halfway down the long corridor leading to the locker room, and she grabbed the smaller wrestler by the bicep with one hand.



“Where the hell does she, of all people, get off telling me who deserves what?!” Akiyama snarled as soon as she spun around, forcing Camille to let go and take a step back. “Yoona’s got a hit-list a mile long, and she’s telling ME to tone it down?!”



“Kanako, she’s right…”



“SHE’S A HYPOCRITE!”



“...she is, but she’s still right.”



That seemed to get Akiyama to calm down slightly, and after a few seconds passed by in silence, Cosworth took that as her cue to continue talking.



“Look, I know you saw Joanna’s video, and I know you’re smart enough to read between the lines. That was a warning, Kanako. Even your Rookie of the Year puff-piece is full of words like uncontrollable and dangerous. I get it, it’s not fair you’re being singled out by the brass when others have done worse, but it is what it is and now you have a target on your back. Everything you do now is going to be scrutinized, and if you keep this up, I’m afraid you’re going to catch a suspension, or worse.”



Akiyama let out a heavy sigh, and tilted her head back to look up at the ceiling.



“I don’t know what’s going through your head, Kanako, but you just haven’t been the same since Mania and we’re worried,” Camille added. “And if I were in your shoes, I think you’d be worried too.”



After a long pause, making it clear that Cam had finished her speil, Kanako let out a deep, profound sigh and leaned back against the wall. “Maybe…” she began slowly, gathering her thoughts, feeling that her friend deserved an explanation. “Maybe I’m just tired of seeing bitches skating by around here, Camille.”



Cam stayed silent, her expression sympathetic, as Kanako elaborated, “I had a lot of time to sit at home and think while I was healing up after FAWNMania, and I realized...Lethbridge probably doesn’t even make the top ten of the worst of the worst around here.” She sighed again and pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes closed. “And...I’m really glad I left FAWN Arena early at Season’s Beatings. After I found out what Zoe Scott did to Chloe Fields...it took all my willpower to not hunt that bitch down and run her through…” She then opened her eyes and looked at Cam with her trademark deadly seriousness, “...and I don’t mean my finisher.”



Cam nodded, holding back a startled gasp at Kanako revealing just how far she might’ve gone. She was similarly outraged at how the current Lightweight Champion and her hired muscle Isobel Lamont had destroyed Chloe’s beloved Straw Beary, but she never dreamed of taking matters into her own hands. Kanako’s explanation, however, did beg the question.



“What about Bianca Simpson? Where does she fall on “the worst of the worst”? Yeah, she can be pretty annoying...Heck, I was pretty salty about what she said about me after the match we had. But, honestly, she’s harmless, Kanako.”



Another sigh from the Japanese beauty, “Bianca...was unfortunate...it was a mistake...and I deeply regret what I did. I even called her a day or two after Season’s Beatings to apologize to her. She didn’t answer...don’t suppose I blame her...but, I left a message. Tell me, Camille...Did Yoona ever call Honey Harris? Or Babe Babcock? Or any of a dozen others she needlessly humiliated in the middle of the ring?”



“Of course I didn’t,” Yoona replied flatly, as she got tired of waiting for them to return and followed after them just as Kanako was explaining herself. “But you’re a better person than I am, Akiyama. That’s well-established.” When her backhanded compliment is met with frowny silence from Kanako and a facepalm from Camille, Yoona continued. “So that’s it, then? You’re gonna clean up FAWN all by your lonesome?”



“It’s not supposed to be like this, Yoona.” Kanako answered with a grunt, “You wanna be a bitch and rub your opponent’s face in it after you beat them, that’s one thing. But cunts like Addison and Sexton and Scott and on and on? They go WAY beyond that! And it’s time someone taught them there’s consequences for that shit beyond maybe losing a match here and there!”



“It’s FAWN, Kanako…” Camille said with a sigh, understanding her point, but also knowing that her argument has a fatal flaw, “...this place isn’t like Japan.”



“Yeah, no shit…” Kanako was quick to answer sharply.



Undeterred, Cam continued, “The point is, we’re all adults here. We know what FAWN’s about, and we know what might...happen...when we get in the ring. You and I, we’re not like that, unlike SOMEONE...” Cam pointed to her girlfriend, who replied by flipping her off with a kiss. “...but we’re in the minority here, and we all accept the risk. I understand how it doesn’t seem right to someone who’s here just to wrestle...but it is what it is.”



A long, uncomfortable silence followed as Kanako again turned her head upwards towards the lights. With a huff and a shake of her head, Yoona broke the silence.



“It’s that goddamned penthouse match,” she growled, “you haven’t been the same ever since that fucking shitshow. If you had just let - “



“YES, ALRIGHT?!” Kanako cut her friend off, screaming so loudly and so suddenly that it startled both Cam and Yoona alike. “I ADMIT IT! IF I HAD JUST LISTENED TO YOU, NONE OF THIS WOULD BE HAPPENING TO ME! THERE!! DOES THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY, YOONA?! DOES BEING RIGHT MAKE YOU FUCKING HAPPY??!!”



Another uncomfortable silence as Yoona and Cam looked shocked by Kanako’s outburst, Cam’s hand covering her mouth, while Kanako looked to be near tears. Walking up to Kanako and placing a hand on her shoulder, Yoona again broke the silence.



“You know what makes me happy, Kanako?”



Akiyama didn’t respond, merely shifting her gaze to one side and away from Park.



“Polly Lockwood struggling to open a jar with her tiny, weak hands -- that makes me happy.”



Camille gave her girlfriend a questioning glance, but out of curiosity she decided not to interrupt Yoona’s monologue.



“Olivia Dare driving off the same hairpin turn on Rainbow Road seven fucking times in a row -- that makes me happy.”



That got a chortle and a snort out of Cosworth, who then immediately looked self-conscious while she mumbled a half-hearted apology.



“Afro Babe talking at me for thirty seconds in her nonsense demon language and then giving me a fist bump when I scream ‘SHIT’S LIT, FAM!’ -- that makes me happy.”



“I think you either agreed to let Ria borrow our Netflix account, or you entered a legally-binding verbal contract to be a cornea donor for her seventeen year-old Labrador…” Camille clarified. “...I’m not sure which, and at this point I’m afraid to ask.”



“Wait, how many corneas do I have?”



“Errr… probably two? One in each --”



“And how many do I need to not die?”



“Well, I mean, technically zero, but --”



“Then what are you worried about?! SHIT’S LIT, FAM!” Yoona bellowed, although neither Camille nor Kanako seemed to share in her enthusiastic mirth.



The silence stretched out for a few long, awkward seconds before Park finally returned to the task at hand. The smile melted from her lips, then she stooped down in front of Kanako and gently cupped Akiyama’s face with both hands so that the other woman had to look her in the eyes.



“What doesn’t make me happy...” Yoona resumed, her voice uncharacteristically soft and measured, “...is seeing the one person in the world that I care about almost as much as Cam hurting. I never in a million years thought I would care so much about somebody I wasn’t fucking --”



This brought out another giggle from Cam that she tried to stifle, recognizing the inappropriateness of it.



“-- but there it is. Our friendship started out as a debt of gratitude, Kanako, for saving our bacon against those Asian Invasion bitches. But you’ve given me something much more. True friendship, something I never thought I would ever find here, of all places. And I want to see you happy and healthy, in all ways. Right now, you’re neither of those things, and Cam and I both just want to help you, before you’re beyond the point of no return.”



“Yoona…” Kanako whispered, almost overwhelmed by emotion, unable to get any more out. Cam, meanwhile looked on with a goofy grin on her face, fighting the urge to join the two in a group hug. Yoona smiled and took a step back before tapping Kanako on the arm.



“Come on,” she said finally, “Me. You. Ring. Now.”



Kanako looked up at her, a tad confused, “What?”



“You’re obviously training for a match. Next pay per view?”



Kanako nods, “Yeah...Brass might be mad at me for this rampage I’ve been on, but they haven’t been able to ignore this winning streak I’ve built up, nor my apparent popularity. They’re giving me a match to earn a future shot at the Lightweight Title.”



“‘Bout damn time.” Yoona grunted, “I’ve thought you’ve deserved a shot for a long time.” Cam nodded in agreement, “Who’s it against?”



Kanako sighed wistfully before answering, “Trixie Decker.” She bit her lower lip in spite of herself, picturing the goth beauty in her mind.



“Jinx?” Cam piped in with a surprised tone, “I didn’t even know she was around!”



“Huh?” Yoona looked a little surprised too, but for different reasons, “Decker, Decker...Jinx...That the goth chick?” Kanako and Cam both nodded, Kanako a little more slowly than Cam, still chewing on her lower lip. “Hang on...I know that look...Are you...sweet on Decker, Kanako?”



Now Cam looked at Kanako, eyes wide in surprise, “What? I didn’t even know the two of you met!” Kanako again replied only with a slow nod. “And I thought you liked Merle?” Kanako winced at the mention of the junior referee’s name.



“Either way!” Yoona jumped in, sparing her friend from having to answer Cam’s questions, “This is the biggest match of your career, Kanako, and you’re gonna need something a little more substantial than a heavy bag to train with!”



This snapped Kanako out of her daze and she regarded Yoona skeptically, “But...you’re not dressed for sparring!”



Yoona scoffed and gave a little handwave, “Bah! No need to worry about that! Come on, let’s go!” With that, the Korean beauty marched off while Cam and Kanako looked at each other (not before taking an appreciative look at Yoona’s rear, though) and shrugged, following after her.



“She’s got quite the way with words, doesn’t she?” Akiyama commented as they watched Park slip through a set of doors a few strides ahead of them.



“Simultaneously the most crass AND the most eloquent person I know,” Cosworth chuckled. “My name is Barry Allen, and I’m the fastest man alive, but even I can’t keep up with the twists and turns of a Yoona Park monologue.”



Kanako scoffed lightly and shook her head, then the pair of them joined Yoona in the mat room where the Korean wrestler had already stripped down to just a pair of boxer briefs. She tied her long, black hair into a messy bun, both to keep the stray strands out of her eyes and to give her sparring partner an unobstructed view of her bared breasts, then she gave a smirk when the shorter woman’s gaze lingered on her bosom for just the briefest of moments.



“Come and get it, Akiyama,” Park said as she rapped her fist a couple of times against her own jawline. “I know you got some steam to blow off, and this face ain’t gonna punch itself!”



Kanako turned towards Camille with a questioning glance and received only a bemused shrug and a silently mouthed Go for it in response. That was all the invitation Akiyama needed. She surged forward with fists clenched and arms cocked, firing off a ferocious flurry of blows…



...only for Park to parry or dodge each one by fractions of an inch.



A couple of jabs were batted away, an uppercut was sidestepped, and just when it seemed like the EurAsian champion had backpedaled into a corner, a Spin Kick was evaded with a tight pirouette that left Kanako’s heel thudding against the padded wall rather than Yoona’s gut. Rather than counterattack now that she was at Akiyama’s back, Park merely gave a sharp, appreciative whistle out of approval for the other wrestler’s opening salvo. For her part, Kanako growled inaudibly and pounded a fist against the wall in frustration.



“Hit me back,” she huffed as she turned around to face her partner. “I can beat up the air just fine all by myself. What’s the point of sparring with the best pound for pound striker in the game if she doesn’t hit me back?”



“Just tryna keep you pretty for Decker,” Yoona replied, though this time she adopted a more aggressive fighting posture. “Well then… shall we?”



Akiyama’s response was to leap forward with a Scissor Kick, and when Park predictably shuffled backwards out of range, Kanako lunged forward a second time with an overhand Haymaker, thinking she’d caught the ex-ballerina on the backfoot. Yoona stopped on a dime and reversed momentum in the blink of an eye though, and she stepped forward and caught Kanako’s arm mid-swing.



A quick turn and pivot sent Akiyama hurtling over her shoulder and down to the mat with a judo toss, leaving the Japanese wrestler flat on her back. Still holding onto her partner’s right wrist, Yoona stood up and delivered a trio of stomps to the floor just a few inches to the side of Kanako’s face.



“Dead.”



Baring her teeth in a snarl, Akiyama spun around on her back while using their connected arms to pull Park forward. She raised her legs and planted both heels in the Korean’s midsection, then sent Yoona tumbling up and over herself with a Monkey Flip. Kanako scrambled upright as soon as she’d tossed the other wrestler clear, but she was still just a touch too slow.



Having landed in a crouch after the Monkey Flip, Yoona rose and spun in a single smooth motion, whipping her right leg into a Buzzsaw Kick aimed at where she knew Kanako’s head would be. She stopped the strike halfway through, however, leaving her foot maybe six inches away from Akiyama’s temple and holding the pose for effect just as the Japanese wrestler had risen to one knee.



“Dead.”



Letting loose a battle cry this time, Kanako lunged and drove a shoulder into Yoona’s gut, tackling the Korean to the ground. Akiyama tried to straddle the other woman’s stomach to get into position for some ground and pound, but even before they’d hit the mat, Park had already wrapped her legs around Kanako’s waist and trapped the Japanese wrestler in her guard.



Clasping both hands behind her partner’s neck for more leverage, Yoona rolled hard to her right to overturn the mount while at the same time unwrapping her legs and hooking her feet against Akiyama’s shins to spread the shorter woman’s legs wide with a Double Grapevine. Kanako hissed in pain, and then gave a soft, startled gasp when Park delivered a couple of teasing hip thrusts against her exposed center.



“Fucked.”



Yoona untangled herself and backed off after making her point, leaving a flustered and frustrated Kanako in her wake. Still laying on her back, Akiyama squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose while she took a sharp inhale of breath through her teeth.



“Is she always this irritating to spar against?” she asked Camille.



“If you have to ask, you already know,” Cosworth sagely replied as she walked over and grabbed Kanako’s outstretched hand to haul the Japanese wrestler upright, then she lowered her voice and added, “Yoona’s picking you apart with counters ‘cause she knows what you wanna do. Let her come to you, and just react instead of thinking so darn much.”



Akiyama shook out each of her limbs and bounced on the balls of her feet as she took a couple of deep breaths to mentally reset. Park was uniquely capable of getting underneath an opponent’s skin, a talent that Kanako had thus far only observed in third person. Once she had refocused and processed Camille’s advice, she stepped forward to her sparring partner again, though this time with her arms lowered at her sides.



“Hit me first.”



Yoona responded with a lopsided grin, then she did exactly that. Closing the distance with two long strides, Park feinted a Snap Kick to the gut before swinging her leg back down and using the inertia to launch into a Superman Punch. Her knuckles made contact with the side of Kanako’s jaw, but the Akiyama managed to roll with the blow, twirling about to absorb the impact before lashing out with a Uraken.



Kanako’s fist found its mark just in front of Yoona’s right ear and the staggering strike dropped Park to one knee, then Akiyama immediately followed up with a Buzzsaw Kick of her own. Whether or not the Japanese wrestler would’ve stopped the kick short, Yoona brought her hands up and caught her partner’s right foot before it could make contact. Park powered her way to a full stand -- albeit a bit unsteadily, as she still felt the effects of the backfist just a moment ago -- leaving Kanako hopping about on one leg.



It took just a couple of seconds for Akiyama to regain her balance, and she decided to take advantage before the Korean could fully recover. With a mighty roar she leapt off her left leg and torqued her body around, spinning about the axis of her right leg still in Yoona’s clutches. There was a pop followed quickly by a loud WHACK when her left boot smashed Park across the side of the mouth and sent the ex-ballerina sprawling to the ground.



Kanako landed in a heap as well, but with an overload of adrenaline in her veins, she quickly bounced back up to a stand with a victorious fist pump as she screamed, “YES!”



Meanwhile, a dazed Yoona laid on her side holding her jaw with one hand, groaning and burbling incomprehensibly. A moment later, a stricken and ghastly pale Camille came rushing forward.



“OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!” Cosworth screamed, clearly panicked. “ARE YOU OKAY?!”



“She’ll be fine,” Akiyama said with a small, reassuring wave. “I didn’t quite get all of --”



“NO, KANAKO!” Camille blurted out. “Y -- YOUR ANKLE…! IT’S… IT’S…!”



Kanako followed her friend’s gaze and looked down, seeing for the first time that her right foot was twisted forty-five degrees inwards at a gruesome, unnatural angle.



“Oh…” Akiyama muttered, suddenly feeling queasy. “Oh shit...”