Introducing Vikki Storm

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by KinoJaggernov

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Hello, fight fans!
It's been a while since we've been this excited to talk to a fighter. Since her discovery last year, Vikki Storm has been turning heads in the amateur circuit and minor leagues and tearing through every opponent put in front of her. I don't think any fan of this column needs to be reminded of her epic sweep back in May. Whoops! I just did!
It warrants repeating, though, because Vikki is riding a twenty match winning streak. She's yet to be knocked out or swapped out due to poor performance, and she's scored over thirty knock outs in eight months. This bears the question: Why the Sapphires? Why not the Alpha Reds or the Indigos? She clearly has the talent to join just about any gym she wants, so why go to the misfit gym of the academy?
We caught up with one of the GBA's hottest new acquisitions to find out.

GBAI: Thanks for talking with us today, Ms. Storm. I have to say, I'm a little antsy talking to you right now. You've made a lot of people very excited to see what you can do here in the Academy.

VS: Please, call me Vikki. I'm happy to be here.

GBAI: So, before we get to the obvious question most people are waiting for, how about we fill in the blanks for anyone who's been living under a rock and hasn't heard the name Vikki Storm. Where are you from? How long have you wanted to be a fighter, and what background forged such an amazing talent?

VS: Well, I'm originally from Dearborne Michigan. Kind of grew up in a tough neighborhood. Tough but fair. People only messed with you if you didn't stand up for yourself. That's kind of where I found my fighting talent. My family lived next to the only non-mon family in the neighborhood. My neighbor's kids got bullied a lot. They tried to stand up for themselves, at least, but there wasn't anything they could really do. I started stepping in. I hate bullies.

GBAI: So technically you started fighting at a pretty early age, huh. Was it the same as it is now, did you clean up your neighborhood?

VS: HAH! No. I got my ass handed to me every time. After the first few beatings though, I stopped being afraid of getting beaten up and they stopped getting out of the fights without a mark. They were in it for fun, and the fun was sucked out once they started risking getting shocked or a black eye.

GBAI: When DID you start training?

VS: The neighbors had a friend who ran a martial arts school. As a favor to me, I was introduced to formal training. I took to it quickly. This was back in the day when a lot of mons figured that they could lean exclusively on their extra abilities to win fights, and forgot about fundamental fighting. It changed everything.

GBAI: And the bullies?

VS: That's when they really started keeping their distance from my friends.

GBAI: So for you, fighting didn't start in the ring. It started in the street, not as a sport.

VS: Winning meant more than just personal satisfaction or glory. It meant my friends got to go home safe.

GBAI: That's quite the motivation.

VS: It's why they made me captain. I take care of my people.

GBAI: You're baiting me to ask the question before I'm ready! I can still escape by asking about your teammates, though!

VS: I'm happy to be working with them! It's an awesome team. Becca, Naomi, Gina, Sammy, Jem and Mike make for a solid foundation.

GBAI: Did I hear that right? There's only one male on the team?

VS: Mike, yes. Why are you looking at me like that?

GBAI: It's a little unusual, you have to admit.

VS: That's where our strength is, in the unexpected. If anyone dares to underestimate us, they're going to regret it in a hurry.

GBAI: Okay. NOW I have to ask. Why the Sapphires?

VS: It's where my heart is. In the neighborhood I grew up in, no one expected anything great from us. People just assumed that coming from that life, the only thing you could accomplish was survival. The Sapphires don't have a long-standing dynasty of greatness. The Sapphire gym was started by outsiders, the last ones picked, by the ones who didn't fit the mold. They were founded by talented fighters that were hugely underappreciated because they had tactics or abilities that weren't immediately obvious and didn't follow trends.

GBAI: I do have to say, you have a very unique crew from what I've read. None of them really seem to fit the profile that most people think of when someone says, "Battle League fighter".

VS: Well, we're going to change that. Being a fighter doesn't automatically mean you have to be a certain way to be successful.

GBAI: Sounds like you've got an agenda.

VS: You could say that. All of my teammates and I share something in common. We were all told no.

GBAI: No?

VS: My parents didn't want me fighting, especially after I got beaten up the first few times. Naomi was told she'd never make it in the GBL as a submission specialist. Becca and Gina were told that they were too kind to be fighters. Sam's functionally blind. Jem was told that steel types have no passion, and Mike was told he's too small. It doesn't matter that we're not from fighting pedigrees. We're martial artists, it's what we love, win or lose.

GBAI: So joining the Sapphires just felt right. It was a gut decision.

VS: That's right.

GBAI: Even though you're massively underfunded?

VS: That just means we'll have to work that much harder, and we've got fantastic coaches who are just making their mark. You'd be surprised how many people love an underdog.

GBAI: And what do you love, Vikki, when you're not winning fights?

VS: Oh, uhhh... horror movies. Especially zombie films. Bad ones.

GBAI: Bad zombie films?

VS: Love em'. I've got a whole bad zombie movie collection. I guess it kind of comes from how useful an expert knowledge of hand to hand combat is in a situation where using a gun isn't the best solution, you know? I get a kick out of seeing these everyday characters getting to be heroes with nothing but a cricket bat and a vague plan of escape. Anything can happen, especially in the really bad zombie films. There's just no consistency, crap just happens out of the blue, and the only way out of it is apparently creative use of housewares.

GBAI: Anything else? Like a special someone in your life?

VS: Mmmmm... not yet. Gina's got me interested in gardening, so I talk to my plants a lot. It's hard to meet someone when you're a female athlete. Most regular guys are too intimidated to strike up a conversation and most of the other athletic guys try to prove that they're just as good of athletes. I'd be happy with a genuinely nice guy who knows how to make me laugh and massages my shoulders after practice. If he likes bad horror films, all the better. It'd be nice to have someone to just shut down with after the arenas and crowds, you know?

GBAI: I hate to be a boat rocker here, but I know what everyone who reads this article will be thinking: Have any of the girls had anything to do with your team mate Mike?

VS: You know, that's the weirdest thing. You'd think so, but no. Mike's a dedicated martial artist and he believes firmly in the team. I know Becca flirts with him all the time but he's stated that he won't risk a relationship breaking the team apart... now whether he LIKES the attention... I guess we'll never know. He hides his emotions pretty well.

GBAI: What about you?

VS: Oh come on! I hate to sound shallow but Mike only comes up to my boobs. He's a nice guy, but it'd be like dating a school kid.

GBAI: ... I meant, do you feel the need to hide your emotions, being team captain?

VS: ...

GBAI: ... Wow, THAT'S a blush.

VS: Well, there's your answer. NEXT QUESTION.

continued on page 25

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