Kurokumo versus Kermal Yilmiz

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Survival of the Fittest Tournament Finale

#1 Contender for the AWS World Television Championship

Pit Fight Match

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View full promo

Backstage.

The arena above hums with life.

Voices.
Footsteps.
The rumble of thousands of bodies filling seats.

The arena lights dim again as the show continues elsewhere.

For a moment—

The ring sits alone.

Still.

Silent.

Waiting.

And then something beneath it…
moves.

A slow dragging sound scratches along the wooden boards under the ring.

A hand slides out from the darkness beneath the apron.

Long fingers.

Too long.

Pale skin dusted with dirt.

Another hand follows.

Then a shoulder.

Then the shape of something unfolding itself like a creature emerging from a narrow burrow.

Kurokumo crawls from beneath the ring.

Not standing.

Not yet.

Four limbs move first.

Then the others.

One at a time.

Smooth.

Controlled.

Precise.

She pulls herself into the light slowly, her body unfolding upward until she stands within the pit like something newly unearthed.

Dust slides from her shoulders as she straightens.

The overhead lights flare brighter.

Instantly—

She recoils.

One hand snaps upward, shielding her eyes.

The brightness is violent.

Harsh.

Burning.

Her fingers twitch against the glare as her head tilts away from the lights.

For several seconds she remains like that.

Still.

Breathing slowly.

Adapting.

Learning the pain.

Then gradually…

Her hand lowers.

Her head lifts.

And her gaze rises toward the lights.

She approaches them.

Slowly.

Like an animal approaching a strange new structure in its territory.

A long finger taps the ground.

ting.

The vibration hums through the air.

Her head tilts sharply.

Listening.

Another tap.

ting.

She drags her fingertips slowly along one of the foundation.

Her posture straightens slightly.

Curiosity.

Recognition.

Understanding.

The pit.

The lights.

The structure.

All of it.

She turns slowly as if studying the geometry of the enclosure.

Eight directions.

Eight lines.

Eight points of tension.

A faint clicking noise escapes the back of her throat.

The corner of the ring creaks softly as someone steps through the ropes.

A small figure follows behind her.

Koharu.

The girl moves quietly, though far more human than the creature she accompanies.

She carries a microphone, though the arena cameras have not yet cut to them.

She looks up at the towering steel cage.

Then at Kurokumo.

The spider demon continues tracing with careful fingertips.

Testing the structure.

Listening to the vibrations.

Koharu exhales slowly.

Then finally speaks.

Softly.

Almost reverently.

—

“Kurokumo says…”

She pauses as the creature taps again.

ting.

“Kurokumo says the humans built something beautiful.”

Koharu turns slightly toward the hard camera now, her voice carrying with eerie calm.

“They call it a pit.”

Another tap.

ting.

“But she says…”

A faint smile touches Koharu’s lips.

“…this is not a pit.”

Kurokumo crouches suddenly, lowering herself near the mat.

Her fingers press against the canvas.

Feeling the vibrations.

Listening to the building above.

Listening to the footsteps.

The distant roar of the crowd.

And something else.

Someone else.

Koharu’s voice lowers.

“Kurokumo says the arena sings.”

Kurokumo’s head tilts sharply toward the arena entrance ramp.

The faintest tremor vibrates through the cage frame.

A new presence in the building.

Koharu nods slowly.

“She feels you walking.”

A pause.

“Kemal Yilmaz.”

The name hangs in the air.

Kurokumo rises again.

Koharu watches.

Then continues.

“You survived the earth.”

Another pause.

Kurokumo’s head tilts slowly.

Listening.

“Kurokumo says the ground broke open once.”

Koharu glances downward toward the ring canvas.

“As buildings fell.”

“As stone cracked.”

“As the sky turned to dust.”

Kurokumo’s fingers tighten on the bars.

“Kurokumo felt it.”

The spider demon leans closer to the steel.

Her breath brushes the metal.

“That day the world shook…”

“…she was listening.”

Koharu’s eyes lift toward the camera again.

“You ran from the collapse.”

Silence stretches.

Then she adds quietly:

“Kurokumo says something interesting about that.”

She gestures slowly around the pit.

“This structure.”

Kurokumo drags her fingers slowly down one of the steel beams.

The sound is like a spider testing silk.

scrrrk.

“Kurokumo says you have entered another structure.”

The lights overhead blaze brighter again.

The glare floods the pit.

For a moment Kurokumo spasms slightly, her shoulders twitching as the brightness stings her eyes.

She raises both hands instinctively.

Covering her face.

Her breathing grows sharp.

Irritated.

Pain.

But then—

She forces her hands down again.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Facing the light.

Koharu watches her.

Then speaks again.

“The light hurts her.”

Her voice remains calm.

“But she says…”

Kurokumo steps into the centre of the cage.

The harsh light pours over her pale skin.

She stands motionless.

Enduring it.

“Kurokumo says webs shine in the sun.”

The structure looms around her like a giant spider web glinting under arena lights.

Koharu nods once.

“This is the part the humans do not understand.”

She gestures around the pit again.

“They built this to contain her.”

Kurokumo’s head turns slowly toward the camera.

The cracked mandible mask stares forward.

Still.

Unblinking.

“Kurokumo says that is very strange.”

A pause.

Then Koharu’s voice softens into something almost sympathetic.

“Why would you build walls…”

“…and then lock yourself inside with a predator?”

Silence follows.

Kurokumo’s fingers flex slowly.

Her posture lowers into that familiar hunting crouch.

The spider in the centre of the web.

Waiting.

Koharu lowers the microphone slightly.

And finishes softly.

“Kemal Yilmaz…”

“You escaped the collapse of the earth.”

Her eyes lift toward the ramp again.

“But tonight…”

She glances at the environment surrounding them.

“…you walk willingly into the web.”

The arena empties slowly.

Crowds disperse into the night.
Lights dim across the upper decks.
Production crews drag cables and cases across concrete corridors.

But far below the building…

Past the loading docks.
Past the storage rooms.
Past the forgotten maintenance crawlspaces…

There is a place the arena never mapped.

A hollow where the earth was opened long before steel and concrete were laid above it.

A burrow.

Not carved.

Not built.

Claimed.

The ceiling is low in places and cathedral-high in others, jagged with broken stone and packed soil. Rusted pipes run through the dirt walls like veins. Dim industrial lights flicker weakly, struggling to illuminate a chamber that seems to swallow brightness.

Dust drifts lazily through the air.

Threads of silk stretch across the cavern like pale constellations.

At the center of the chamber—

Kurokumo crouches upon a mound of packed soil and debris.

Her limbs fold beneath her with unsettling stillness, the posture of a spider waiting in the heart of its web.

The cracked ceramic mandible mask rests beside her on the ground.

Without it, her face is pale and sharp, black veins faintly visible along her temples. Her eyes remain fixed on the tunnel entrance leading upward toward the arena.

Listening.

Feeling.

The vibrations of the world above are fading now.

But another vibration remains.

Slow.

Heavy.

Ancient.

The earth begins to tremble slightly.

Not violently.

Not like the earthquake that once shook cities apart.

This tremor is different.

Rhythmic.

Measured.

Step.

Dust falls from the ceiling.

Step.

Loose pebbles roll down the walls.

Step.

The silk threads across the chamber quiver faintly.

Koharu stands near the entrance tunnel, a small lantern in one hand. She doesn't panic.

She simply watches the darkness.

Because she knows that vibration.

The tremor grows closer.

The tunnel mouth darkens.

And then—

Something enormous moves within it.

Stone scrapes against stone as a massive hand pushes against the cavern wall to steady itself. Fingers thick as iron rods grip the rock.

A shoulder emerges next.

Broad.

Immense.

Covered in dark fur streaked with ash and moss.

Then the rest of him steps forward from the tunnel.

Tetsuzan.

The mountain-born ape yokai fills the cavern like a piece of the earth itself has stood up and decided to walk.

He is colossal—towering over Koharu and even over Kurokumo when she stands upright.

Dark iron-colored fur covers his body, but beneath it the skin shows through in places like weathered granite, cracked and scarred by centuries of battle and erosion.

His eyes burn a deep molten amber.

Calm.

Ancient.

Heavy with the memory of mountains.

He pauses just inside the chamber.

Not out of uncertainty.

Out of awareness.

The silk threads stretched across the burrow tremble as his presence settles into the space.

Kurokumo does not move.

But her head tilts slightly.

The spider recognizes the vibration instantly.

Not prey.

Not threat.

Familiar.

Slowly, she rises from the mound of earth.

Her limbs unfold in deliberate silence as she stands upright.

For several seconds the two ancient creatures simply stare at one another across the cavern.

Spider.

Ape.

Two monsters shaped by earth and time.

The silence is not hostile.

It is the quiet of predators who have already measured each other long ago.

Koharu lowers her lantern slightly, letting the light illuminate both figures.

She smiles faintly.

“Well,” she says softly.

“You found us.”

Tetsuzan does not respond with words.

He never does.

Instead, the great ape takes another step into the chamber.

The ground shifts slightly beneath his weight.

His gaze shifts briefly toward Koharu.

Not suspicion.

Recognition.

Acceptance.

A member of the web.

Then his eyes return to Kurokumo.

The spider demon takes a few slow steps forward.

Her movements are lighter, smoother, but equally deliberate.

They meet near the center of the burrow.

Close enough now that the difference between them becomes stark.

Tetsuzan is raw power—mountain muscle and stone.

Kurokumo is precision—long limbs and patient predation.

Yet neither seems smaller beside the other.

They simply occupy the same ancient space.

Koharu watches them like someone witnessing an old ritual.

“Kurokumo says…” she begins quietly.

Her eyes move between the two creatures.

“…you took your time.”

Tetsuzan’s chest expands slowly as he breathes.

The sound rumbles through the cavern like distant thunder.

Kurokumo circles him once.

Not aggressively.

Studying.

Confirming.

The silk threads tremble softly with each step.

Finally she stops in front of him again.

Her head tilts.

A faint clicking sound escapes her throat.

Koharu listens.

Then translates.

“She says the mountains must have been quiet lately.”

The corner of Koharu’s mouth curls slightly.

Tetsuzan’s amber eyes flicker briefly.

Not quite amusement.

But close.

He lowers himself slightly, crouching near the cavern wall so his towering frame fits more comfortably within the chamber.

Stone cracks softly under his weight.

Koharu leans against one of the support beams.

“You heard the signal, didn’t you?”

She gestures vaguely upward.

“The fighting.”

“The noise.”

“The blood.”

“This place…”

Her voice lowers slightly.

“…it woke her up.”

Kurokumo has already returned to her mound of soil.

But now she sits beside it rather than atop it.

Her gaze remains fixed on Tetsuzan.

Koharu glances between them again.

“Tetsuzan,” she says gently.

“This place is called the Asylum Wrestling Society.”

She folds her arms.

“Humans gather above us to fight.”

“To hurt each other.”

“To prove things.”

She pauses.

Then shrugs.

“Kurokumo likes it.”

The spider demon taps a finger against the dirt floor.

Once.

Soft.

Koharu nods.

“She says the arena is full of prey.”

Another pause.

Her eyes lift toward Tetsuzan.

“But some prey…”

She gestures between the two monsters.

“…is worth sharing.”

The cavern falls quiet again.

Tetsuzan slowly turns his head toward the tunnel leading back up to the arena.

He listens.

Feeling the vibrations above.

Thousands of humans.

Thousands of heartbeats.

Thousands of potential battles.

His amber eyes glow slightly brighter.

Kurokumo watches him carefully.

The spider senses the same thing.

The same hunger.

The same recognition.

Two apex predators entering the same hunting ground.

Koharu pushes herself off the support beam.

“Well,” she says.

“If you’re staying…”

She gestures toward the silk threads stretching across the burrow walls.

“…we might need a bigger web.”

Kurokumo’s head tilts again.

A faint clicking noise escapes her throat.

Koharu smiles.

“Oh.”

“Right.”

She glances up toward the arena ceiling far above them.

Then back at the two ancient monsters sharing the burrow.

“She says…”

Koharu’s voice softens slightly.

“…the web is about to get stronger.”

The silk threads tremble.

Not from fear.

From the slow, heavy vibration of two predators now moving together beneath the arena.

Koharu pauses at the mouth of the tunnel, the lantern’s light flickering across the stone walls of the burrow.

Behind her, the cavern breathes slowly.

Kurokumo settles once more into the heart of the web, limbs folded with patient stillness.

Across the chamber, Tetsuzan sits like a fallen mountain, amber eyes glowing faintly in the dark as dust drifts through the air around him.

Two ancient things.

Waiting.

Koharu glances back at them, then up toward the distant rumble of the arena far above.

Her voice carries softly into the darkness.

“By the way…”

She tilts her head slightly, listening to the faint vibrations traveling through the soil.

“Kemal Yilmaz.”

A small smile touches her lips.

“You might have survived the collapse of the earth once.”

Her gaze lifts toward the ceiling.

“But tonight…”

The lantern light flickers.

“…the earth fights back.”

 

 

Detroit, Michigan. Saturday 14th March. (Off-Camera)

Kemal walks into another mental health facility, but this time in Detroit, Michigan to visit the counsellor he was assigned to, thanks to Konrad helping him with that, John Cunningham. He asked at the desk to tell John he was at the mental health facility. As Kemal said that, along with spelling his name because it was hard to pronounce and to spell and they looked through the register and they found his name and told him to take a seat. He sits for twenty minutes before being called into the office and John closed the door behind him after Kemal came in and sat down as a way to catch up on everything and also to discuss the things they need to talk about with Kemal's life in Turkey before the earthquake and his anger more.

Of course the reasons for his anger were pretty clear, but it's how Kemal moves on is the issue, although Kemal opened up a few weeks ago on what he wanted, but he needed to get to know his Muslim friends more before he can start dating. He had gotten to know his Muslim friend a lot more now and had even visited Kemal at his work place.

John Cunningham: “So how have you been?”

Kemal Yilmaz: “To be honest, pretty good, but lost at the same time. Over in another wrestling company, we just lost a leader of the stable and I'm now leading it because Konrad said I needed the money more than the other guys did.”

John Cunningham: “He must've saw something in you that he didn't see with the other talent. So what you're saying is without Konrad, you're feeling lost?”

Kemal nodded as it was the obvious truth of the situation and John had to start slow because it was how these sessions go and of course, John wanted to move on because it was clear that Kemal wanted to and it was for the best in this situation as they continued.

John Cunningham: “So tell me Kemal, we know what your life was like after the earthquake, but what was it like before it, like what did you do with your family?”

Kemal Yilmaz: “We weren't a rich family, lets put it that way and one of the reasons we moved from Istanbul was because of the prices were too much for our family, so they had to move to an earthquake struck country. It was all they could afford. We were a loving family, very overly protective as most Muslim families are. But I think if there's one thing my parents do regret was not allowing us to have partners.”

John Cunningham: “So, is that why you struggle to have a partner because your parents didn't allow you?”

Kemal Yilmaz: “Partly, it was the day before the earthquake they changed their minds and said we can fly the nest on our own. Then yeah, you know what happened and everyone died. I managed to survive because I first felt the rumble and then I shouted run to everyone and I ran away straight away when I felt it, even sleeping on the football pitch as it was the safest place to be. That's until I had everything stolen from me the next day.”

That sounded like one hell of a story for John to hear, but something that he could understand because of the situation that had happened and how his family life was a happy one and it was good to talk about, especially John didn't know Kemal very well as he's still new on the roster and he does write and type every word Kemal is saying as he speaks.

John Cunningham: “I'm sorry to hear that. Konrad told me about your past and if there's one thing he told me that really widened my eyes, is it true you went in the street only for food and drink, no money, no selling illegal drugs?”

Kemal Yilmaz: “All true because it's against Muslim religion actually, but people were doing it because they were surviving for money, but all I wanted was food and drink to keep me alive which for me was more important than money.”

John Cunningham: “I so admire that. If only young kids were inspired by your story, you would change everything that's wrong with US these days. Anyway, how are you feeling about the upcoming match against Kurokumo for the Television title?”

Kemal Yilmaz: “More than ever I'm ready because it's a Pit Fight match that I'm comfortable in with it being like an MMA octagon type match. I was training to be an MMA fighter until Konrad convinced me that wrestling had a much better future for me. Anyway, I got to go and train for this match. I see you next session to talk more about my family life and wrestling. I want to kick this guy's ass.”

John saw that today, Kemal was in a rush to go to the gym and do a video for the match against Kurokumo as he does just that before he heads off to sleep as he was in the middle of fasting at the moment.

----------------------

Detroit, Michigan. Sunday 15th March. (On-Camera)

Cameras were dead on Kemal Yilmaz as he stood inside of a Ford car museum seeing the classic cars which was ironic on what his mentor does nowadays as he jumps straight into it without any hesitation whatsoever because he wanted to get right down to business, even if the weather was cold and stormy.

“I won't spend too long here because my opponent is still fairly new to Asylum Wrestling Association and has somewhat of a very interesting personality of a spider venom sort of style and I get it, you want to stand out and so do I, even if I'm a bit boring that I can admit and need to work on. But that's besides the point that the Pit Fight is everything I was training to do my entire life and yet, the earthquake prevented my original dream to happen, but at least I was allowed to wrestle to my full potential. I was born to be in the MMA octagon so nothing is new here for me.”

Which was true as it truly represented the cars he was showing that were very old fashioned, or in this case, very much a veteran that was born to be an MMA fighter since he was a child, but now had professional wrestling because he would rather be a wrestler than living on the streets for many months at a time.

“Kurokumo, I'm sure your frightened that this match is not really suited for your style, especially when the AWS Television title contender ship is on the line for our match too. Sure you've had some impressive performances to get you into this match and the finals as a whole, but at the same time, you've not really been on my life and I'm being honest about that as I'm old fashioned technical and striker wrestler, but I will wipe the god damn floor with you because I'm not leaving any room for you to breathe. I'm not leaving any room for you to catch your breath as I'm going everywhere I go with my wrestling skills.”

Of course the desperation of Kemal speaks more volumes than ever and granted, he only had a few matches in AWS, but far more than his opponent has who's only started their career in AWS and he continues.

“Fact is I defeated TJ Alexander to be in this match and I'm far more deserving than you and with my win and loss records as well. I'm going to do everything it takes to earn myself that title and granted, I won't bother addressing anything you've said because it doesn't mean that much to me, considering there's limited information about you. But I deserved the shot for the Television Title more than you and I'm going to deliver and I'm also going to win this tournament as well Kurokumo because I can and I will deliver. I don't need to say much on what I'm going to do to you and you'll be wishing you never had that match with me at my strongest style of wrestling out there.”

There was a last few set of words for Kurokumo who was a future and Kemal wasn't going to deny that, nor will he consider him a joke. He speaks for the last time, signalling for the title around his waist, despite it being a title contention match.

“I'm going to punish you like no tomorrow and knock your ass out or make you tap out with a painful submission move I'll do to you because while you don't deserve it, I have to inflict the side of wanting to win this match and I will take every short cut to get myself there because life doesn't wait for anyone. The time to strike is right now and I want to win the Television title more than you ever would. I'm going for the win using everything I got to be the top guy of AWS and it will happen.”

That was all Kemal had to say about his opponent as the cameras went to black.