[Standard Match] Charlotte Ravel' vs Angela Belti - Up to the top (Apex Qualifier Match)

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Match type: standard
Victory conditions: pinfall, submisson, knockout, disqulification

"Have you ever thought that there are no-win scenarios?" Victoria asked.

Charlotte was ready to roll her eyes, but she restrained this emotional outburst. Instead, she sent two quick punches into the punching bag, and then took a step to the right. Exhaling all the air from her lungs, she turned around a hundred and eighty degrees, lifting her right leg bent at the knee. A moment later, her foot crashed into the punching bag, shifting it a few meters. Charlotte took her starting position, and then took a deep breath. Only now that her warm-up was over she turned to her manager.

"The words that Yaone often likes to say are perfect here," she said, being sure that Victoria had already heard these words. "I don't believe in no-win scenarios."

The pink-haired woman went to her locker and took a towel to wipe the sweat from her forehead. She wasn't going to spend too much strength on warming up, but going to a match with cold muscles was tantamount to suicide. And although Charlotte was sure that this short conversation had come to an end, she felt with the back of her head that Victoria was still looking at her. The Frenchwoman turned around with the intention of asking what her manager wanted, but Victoria beat her to it.

"And yet, you lost last time," the Englishwoman said, adjusting her glasses. "So where are the guarantees that it won't happen again today?"

Charlotte blinked a few times, slightly surprised by what Victoria said. The Frenchwoman put down the towel and walked over to her manager, staring at her intently. Victoria was a very intelligent woman, her intelligence and boundless diligence allowed her to become an excellent manager. But in some matters she was still too down-to-earth in Charlotte's opinion.

"I never said that you can win anything, I'm just saying that you always have the opportunity to win, these are two different things," the Frenchwoman looked at her bandaged hands. "I made a lot of mistakes last time and it led to my defeat." Charlotte clenched her fists and looked at Victoria again, after which she smiled slightly. "But I trained in order to become stronger than I was last time."

With these words, the pink-haired woman left the locker room, leaving Victoria with a satisfied smile on her face. Charlotte headed down the long corridor. The circumstances were such that she needed another qualifying match. And, much to Charlotte's relief, Victoria was able to find her a match quickly enough. The Frenchwoman's special attention was attracted by the fact that this time her opponent again will be a heavyweight.

The woman walked into the waiting room and stopped in front of the curtains. She wasn't in the habit of trying to find out something about her opponent in advance, but nevertheless, she got some information from Victoria about the woman she was going to meet in a fight today. In addition to the name, the Frenchwoman found out that her opponent is a mature woman with a lot of experience behind her. And, apparently, she was really cruel once. This reminded Charlotte of the times when she had not yet embarked on the path of martial arts. The young woman took a deep breath. She was ready.

Entrance Music

Attire

Her dynamic music began and the Frenchwoman came out from behind the curtains. At every step she did, she sent a punch into the air to the rhythm of the music. To loud applause from the audience, she stopped and raised her fist above her head. At that moment, a thick fog appeared over the ramp, a large screen above the entrance turned on and through the fog they could see the silhouette of a sand lizard.

Charlotte started down the ramp. There was a slight smile on her face. She never counted on such a thing as popularity. Therefore, it was still a little unusual for her to see the enthusiastic looks of the audience directed at her. She even had to stop several times in order to take a selfie and leave an autograph on the poster. She was here because she wanted to show what it means to be a real fighter. But she could not deny that she felt warmth in her heart thanks to the support of the audience.

She sped up and jumped to the edge of the ring. The Sand Lizard grabbed the top rope in order to use it as a springboard. Once inside the squared circle, she took several wide steps before placing her left foot slightly to the right of her right foot. Pushing off the mat, she allowed her body to start spinning. Her right leg made a wide arc, slicing through the air. That jumping spinning heel kick was her humble gift to the audience.

Landing on her feet, Charlotte raised her right fist above her head again, accepting the last applause of the audience. When her music ended, she greeted the referee and then headed to her corner. Pressing her back against the turnbuckle, she put her hands on the top ropes and took a deep breath. She has not forgotten her last defeat. At that time, she did not have enough strength to defeat the Lion. It certainly hit her confidence hard. But Charlotte wasn't in the habit of making excuses. So she did the only right thing after that. She began a series of grueling workouts in order to become better and learn how to face larger rivals. Today she had a chance to check out what her training was worth. It remains only to wait for her rival.

[BlackAkuma]

Charlotte wouldn’t have to wait for too long.

Angela’s theme music came out with its soft, soothing beat, echoing through the tones as the lights dropped. It was haunting tone, not the sort of thing you would expect from the woman who owned it, far from the bombastic, booming themes that larger wrestlers were so often accompanied by. But that had never been the sort of woman Angela Belti strove to be - La Donna Perfetta was cool and calm, a focused fire instead of a raging inferno.

You could see that in her stride, as she came out from behind the curtain, walking with proud steps, her chest jutting out and her head held high. While she wasn’t the tallest woman in LAW, she carried herself as if she was, putting her proud body on display with every movement and refusing to show a single sign of hesitation. She was the picture of confident, controlled poise, moving at her own time and pace, as if she was in full control of everything that happened from this point on.

The little woman walking beside her was anything but. ”I still don’t see why I have to be here.”

Desdemona Belti - known as ‘Dizzy’ to just about anyone she’d ever had a conversation with - walked alongside her mother, taking up so little space that the taller woman’s shadow almost completely eclipsed her. She had a small pout going on, stemming from an argument that had begun before the music had played, one that had been going on in some fashion or another for a few weeks now, all stemming from her involvement at ringside.

”I mean, I get that you want me to watch these matches, sure,” She rolled her neck about, getting out a few kinks. [color=#bf00000]“But I can do that from the audience. With drinks. And food. And a nice, comfy seat.”[/color].

”And your phone.” Angela was quick to add on, earning the expected groan from her daughter. ”Just focus. Look close. Pay attention. You might learn a few things.”

Desdemona had her doubts about that. While she didn’t know much about her opponent, she had two working eyes, and neither of them saw much in the woman her mother was taking on today. Charlotte was in good shape, sure, looked great in that outfit - pretty hot, actually. But her Mom had the distinct size advantage here, unlike the living tank Alaina Sanders. Maybe size wasn’t everything, but it was a lot of things.

But they were about to find out one way or another, right?

Angela made her way up the steps, brought her leg over the top rope, and eased her way into the ring, never letting her gaze leave Charlotte for a second, always sizing her up. Though she kept her stoic demeanor, she let a sly smile creep along her lips, as her blood began to race in anticipation.

Angela walked over to her opponent and extended her hand, looking for a handshake to start things off. A little sportsmanship. ”Ciao, bella.” She nodded. ”Let’s have a good match, shall we?”

[skip-stop]

When the unfamiliar music started, Charlotte turned her head to the side. And almost immediately, her left eyebrow lifted slightly. There were several reasons for this. Firstly, her opponent was not alone. Next to her was a girl who looked very tiny against the background of Angela. Of course, Charlotte was aware that the rules allowed for escorts. But until today, she had never seen it in person. And, considering that most of her rivals were not distinguished by great nobility, the thought involuntarily appeared in the Frenchwoman's head that this girl might try to complicate her life during the match in one way or another. However, the pink-haired woman tried to put it out of her mind.

Secondly, she was very surprised by the atmosphere prevailing during the entrance of her rival. The music was smooth and even in a sense calm. And Angela was moving towards the ring with such a confident step that it seemed that nothing else existed around her. Even despite the distance between them, the Sand Lizard could see how concentrated this woman's gaze was. The corners of the Frenchwoman's lips lifted slightly.

When Angela and the girl accompanying her were near the ring, Charlotte got the opportunity to look at them a little more closely. Curiosity wasn't her biggest sin, but now it was really interesting who this girl was. A protégé? A lackey? No, she didn't think so. She didn't have time to see every detail, but their faces were somewhat similar. Could this girl be...

Charlotte was brought out of her thoughts by the fact that her opponent got into the ring. The Sand Lizard pushed off from the corner and walked confidently to the center. She stopped a step and a half away from Angela. The audience filled the arena with a hum when the women finally found themselves face to face. Angela looked Charlotte straight in the eye and there was not a single hint of any doubt in her gaze. The Sand Lizard responded with exactly the same look, and a second later, almost identical smiles appeared on the faces of the women. It seems they were both waiting for an opportunity to test each other's abilities.

The audience was no less excited, because such matches are quite rare. The fighters differed greatly both in age and weight. Angela was considerably older than Charlotte and weighed at least twenty kilograms more. And although most of the bodies of both women were made up of muscles, Angela's muscle mass was definitely greater. Although something else caught Charlotte's attention. She had met women who were heavier than her before, twice, but she had never met a woman who was taller than her. And although it was only about one inch difference in height, but the fact remained.

Angela was the first to break the silence by greeting Charlotte in Italian, which made the pink-haired woman's smile grow a little wider. When her rival offered a handshake, memories of Gabriella basely hitting her in the crotch during the greeting surfaced in the Frenchwoman's memory. Since then, she has become much more careful. However... she understood that if you start to see a threat in every person, you can easily become paranoid. Besides, she didn't feel any immediate threat from Angela, her aura was somewhat different. Therefore, the Sand Lizard clenched her right fist and pressed it to her straightened left palm, after which she bowed to her opponent.

"Charlotte Ravel'," she introduced herself, straightening up to her full height. "May the best woman win."

Bowing was an integral part of her code of honor. But after these words, she stretched out her hand forward and accepted the handshake. As expected, she felt a firm grip. Charlotte had no doubt that Angela had a lot of experience behind her, besides, only a blind person would not notice the difference in pure physical strength. But the Frenchwoman was not going to let this give rise to doubts in her heart. She was a fighter. That was her way. And today, she intended to use all her skill in order to win.

Releasing the purple-haired woman's hand, the Sand Lizard intended to take a few steps back in order to create a free space between them, and then take a fighting stance. Clenching her fists, she raised the right one to the level of her chin, and left the left one at the level of the middle of her torso. Putting her right foot back a step, she turned slightly to her opponent with her left side. She made it clear to the referee with a short nod. And after a moment, she gave the same short nod to Angela. Now only the ringing of the bell separated them from the start.

[BlackAkuma]

As Charlotte approached, Angela took a moment to take stock of her opponent, hoping to get the full measure of what she was up against, here. At a glance, she seemed like a decent physical specimen - perhaps not quite on her level of power, but close enough that she would’ve be able to simply bulldozed over the woman. Dressed appropriately enough, so there was little chance of things going in an untoward direction, though the style of her outfit brought some small concern. She’d seen similar outfits on the more MMA focused wrestlers that were so popular these days. Certainly not her cup of tea, and a style of grappling that she had little experience dealing with.

Or, perhaps, it was merely an aesthetic choice. There was little sense in having an eternal, internal debate about it, she supposed - one way or another, she was about to find out exactly who she was dealing with.

Angela was confused for an instant when her handshake wasn’t accepted, but she saw the sense in it when Charlotte instead bowed. Not the usual sort of thing she expected in a wrestling match, but she supposed it was just as good as a handshake, at the end of the day. She mirrored the motion and leaned forward with a bow, letting her long, violent strands slide off along her shoulders as she tilted. ”Oh, don’t worry.” She kept her face calm, but there was a hint of a wild smile in the mix, as Charlotte took her hand for the more typical greeting. ”I plan to.”

And with that and a ring of the bell, they were underway.

Angela took a step back and raised her hands, moving into a classic grappler’s stance as she circled her opponent. She didn’t move in just yet, not wanting to overcommit, and instead kept her distance and stepped around the perimeter of the ring. She would juke forward ever so often, stepping out to test her opponent’s reflexes, trying to see how responsive Charlotte was and if she would give away any openings.

[skip-stop]

Charlotte was pleasantly surprised by Angela's answering gesture. At least for the simple reason that this was the first time the Frenchwoman received a bow in return in the ring. LAW was not famous for honor among the fighters. She managed to see this personally, especially during her qualifying matches. However, the words spoken by her rival were not as pleasant as her gesture. Charlotte's eyes narrowed slightly during the handshake.

"We'll see," she said shortly.

Yes, she certainly didn't like it. It reminded her of the match with Amy. The only match she lost. However, it wasn't about losing. It was about attitude. Charlotte sensed the neglect in Angela's words. Just like it was the case with Amy before their match started. But it became an experience for her, which helped her to restrain her emotions this time. The match will put everything in its place.

The women took a few steps back from each other and took their fighting stance. Even here everyone could see the difference. Charlotte's stance was a striking one, while Angela's stance was ф grappling one. The audience felt the tension. They held their breath the moment when the striped shirt raised her hand. And then...

Ding-Ding-Ding.

Accompanied by the cheers of the audience, the match finally began. Noticing that her opponent did not rush into the attack, Charlotte also decided not to rush. They started circling each other, gradually closing the distance. The Sand Lizard was closely following the purple-haired woman's every move. No matter what anyone says, but the start of the match is a very important stage. In most cases, you have to make a decision. Attack, defend or counterattack. And whether you get an advantage may depend on this decision.

Angela was constantly testing Charlotte's nerves for strength. She was constantly jerking back and forth, imitating an attempt to rush into the attack. And although there was nothing pleasant about it, the Frenchwoman remained calm. Not the least role in this was played by her composure. She just kept moving in a circle, gradually closing the distance between them.

Suddenly, when Angela once again jerked forward, Charlotte pushed off from the mat, starting to approach her opponent. Someone had to start the match for real and she wasn't going to just wait. Step with the left foot. Step with the right foot. Taking a deep breath, the Sand Lizard shifted her weight to her right leg, while her left leg bent at the knee began to rise up. Having made an arc, Charlotte intended to direct her left foot directly at Angela's head, not forgetting to straighten this leg at the end in order to increase the speed and force of her roundhouse kick.

However, in order for her opponent to get a slightly better idea of who she was dealing with, the pink-haired woman was going not to return the attacking leg to its original position, but to land her left foot slightly to the right of the right foot. What for? In order to immediately turn around on her own axis, lifting the right leg bent at the knee. She intended to straighten this leg and ram Angela's stomach with a quick spinning side kick, thereby combining the two kicks into a single combo.

[BlackAkuma]

A little rush here. Jerking in. Jolting forward. Test, assess, prod at Charlotte’s weak points. Angela’s keen eye stayed focused on her opponent, honed in like a laser, looking for any weaknesses, something she could exploit, something she could seize on for even the slightest, momentary advantage, and she found…

Nothing.

No, Charlotte wasn’t the type to buckle under pressure, that much was obvious. She didn’t fall for the feints, didn’t give in to the pressure. She held fast, ready for anything. The mark of a good wrestler. An experienced one.

That thought was enough to harden the smile on Angela’s face. She’d wanted a win for her record, but this would prove to be a worthwhile one. Of course, she still had to pin this woman down and claim the win, and that might not be the easiest thing…

Charlotte must’ve grown weary of the waiting, because she suddenly burst forward with a head of steam, moving it with a kick. While Angela was far from the fast on her feet, she knew the telltale signs of a kick and brought her arm up to absorb it, letting the blow crash along her forearm. No big deal, no harm done.

The same couldn't be said for the kick that came immediately after, though. That one crashed into her stomach and took her off guard, completely, making her stagger back a few steps before she got ahold of herself. It was an impressive amount of power, but it wasn’t enough to deter her - Angela had taken blows like that before, and would do so again if need be.

She moved forward with a long step to close the distance, brought her foot up, and shot it out as she closed in on her opponent, attempting to hit her with a kick of her own - namely a Big Boot, aimed at the redhead’s chest.

[skip-stop]

Charlotte considered herself a patient enough person. However, sometimes patience does not always bring too much benefit. She could have continued to wait for her opponent's first attack, but instead she decided to act. She needed to find out some information about Angela, because the Sand Lizard's plan for the match depended on the style of this purple-haired woman.

When she approached the Italian woman and attacked, Angela remained calm. Instead of trying to dodge the kick, she decided to use the block. Charlotte's foot crashed into her opponent's forearm. And although it was quick, she managed to notice that Angela didn't even wince. Of course, it's better to block a kick than to get it right in the head, but even in this case, it usually brings some consequences.

The Sand Lizard still had a chance to rehabilitate herself as she wasn't going to stop after the first kick. Using the torque, she spun around on her axis and sent another kick, this time into Angela's stomach. The foot of the pink-haired woman crashed into the belly of her rival, thanks to which she felt the strong abs.

"Probably no worse than Astrid's," Charlotte caught herself thinking.

The kick sent Angela staggering back a few steps. It might seem that this is a good reason for Charlotte to continue the offensive. That's exactly what the Frenchwoman was going to do. But there was one problem. As soon as the Sand Lizard returned the attacking leg to its original position and turned to face her opponent, the Italian woman immediately rushed to the attack.

Charlotte's eyes widened in surprise for a moment. Of course, the purple-haired woman was bigger than her, and the Frenchwoman assumed that she would have to spend a lot of effort to inflict significant damage on Angela. However, her legs were made up of pure muscles, and kicks were her most dangerous weapon. And the fact that even after a successful kick, her opponent is able to move so freely, said that the Sand Lizard underestimated the amount of effort she would have to put into this match.

Noticing the rising leg, Charlotte quickly realized that she would not be able to avoid damage. Instinctively, she pushed off from the mat with her left foot, simultaneously trying to lean back the left part of the body back. Thanks to this, the purple-haired woman's foot crashed not into her chest, but into her left shoulder.

"Gh..." came from the lips of the Frenchwoman.

Her evasion did not reduce the force of the kick at all. Pain shot through her shoulder and with it, the Sand Lizard backed away. One step, then the second, then the third. Only by leaving her right leg back she forced herself to stop. Now there was not even a theoretical doubt about the power of her rival. Charlotte's eyes narrowed a little as she looked at Angela.

And then the Sand Lizard, raising her fists, rushed forward, rapidly approaching her rival. In another situation, she probably wouldn't have increased the pace so much at the very beginning of the match. However, after the match with Amy, she became convinced that it was impossible to fight with heavyweights in any other way. Therefore, she wanted to show that she was ready to try to hit Angela again.

However, at the very last moment, when the distance would have become suitable, it would have become clear that Charlotte did not intend to act like a ram crashing its horns into the gate. The raised fists were only meant to give the impression that the Sand Lizard intended to make close contact. But instead, the Frenchwoman intended to push off from the mat, making a jump. Bending both legs at the knees, she got ready. But not for another attempt to kick Angela's head or stomach. Instead, she intended to lean back and then straighten both legs straight into the purple-haired woman's right shin. Charlotte was going to knock the ground out from under her opponent's feet and make her collapse face down on the mat with a front dropkick!

[BlackAkuma]

While Angela was doing a good job of keeping things serene on the outside, inside things were a tad more complicated. She felt that blow, deep down, all the way to her bone, and she knew that her arm would be numbed for the duration of the match. It wasn’t anything that would make fighting impossible or even slow her down, but it would be a constant reminder of the sort of force this woman could bring to bear. It was nothing to be gainsaid.

All the same, Angela forged forward - this wasn’t the sort of opponent she could afford to play defensive with. She had the strength advantage, here, and she was determined to play it up, pain be damned.

Her big boot didn’t connect clean - a glancing blow, just hitting the shoulder, better than nothing but a far cry from the devastating strike it could’ve been. Angela came down after the attack and spun about to see her foe staring right back, with the two of them already getting a good understanding of what the other had in their arsenal.

Good.

Angela was on the move again, a touch more cautious now, on the lookout for another strike. It seemed like they were on a collision course, heading towards each other at full steam, two bodies preparing to connect with thunderous results. With the weight advantage firmly on her side, she was certain that she would be the one coming out on top.

In reality, things turned out to be a touch more complicated. Charlotte picked the last second, the crucial final moment, to break away and change things up, coming at her with the clear opening of a dropkick. Angela even brought her arms up in defense, only to realize her mistake too late - she was going high, but instead low.

She took the hit to her shin and went rolling after the impact, carried by the momentum and forced into a tumble. All she could do was somersault with it, trying to keep herself from faceplanting, and that brought her all the way into the corner. She spun around and found herself with her back against the turnbuckle, with her leg stinging from the exchange.

”Whoa, Mom!” Dizzy’s cry came from the opposite side of the ring. ”That looked nasty out here! Are you okay?”

”I’m good, Dizzy!” She called back, but the pain in her voice said different. She gripped the ropes and used them for support as she rose in the corner with a wary eye on her opponent, not sure what would be coming her way next.

[skip-stop]

This time it was more successful. When she made the leap, she managed to see that Angela was preparing to repel a dropkick in her chest. Given the previous attempt to kick this woman, it would surely have ended in complete failure. Perhaps the purple-haired woman would have taken a step back, but then she would have quickly moved to counterattack. However, she didn't have time to realize that Charlotte had something a little more cunning on her mind.

Having strengthened the protection on the top, the Italian woman left the bottom without any protection. And so nothing prevented both feet of the Sand Lizard from crashing into the shin of her rival. The ground has gone from under Angela's feet. She fell and rolled to the side. Of course, Charlotte also fell on her back, but she wasn't going to stay in this position for too long.

Placing her palms near her head, she lifted her legs up, and then pushed off the mat with force, literally jumping to her feet in one movement. Quickly assessing the situation, she realized that her opponent was in the corner. At the same moment, the Frenchwoman heard the girl who came with Angela call her mom. The assumption of the pink-haired woman regarding their family relationship turned out to be correct.

"So she brought her for learning," the Frenchwoman thought.

It was commendable. Charlotte knew that many of her students were watching her matches. And some, such as Margarita and Karen, even come sometimes to watch the matches in person. And although it was hardly something significant, but now they had something in common, because apparently they were both engaged in training the next generation of fighters.

Taking a deep breath, the Sand Lizard ran towards the Italian woman. It would be very stupid of her to just stand and wait for her opponent to get to her feet, because in that case her efforts with the dropkick would have been in vain. Therefore, Charlotte tried to use all the speed she was capable of in order to get to Angela before she was fully on her feet.

The Sand Lizard intended to push off the mat again and leap forward in order to reach the peak of speed. This woman was certainly strong and resilient, but if the attack was powerful enough, then even she wouldn't be able to stand up against it. So this time Charlotte wasn't going to throw her legs forward during the jump. This time she was going to bend both legs at the knees and move them forward in order to hit Angela in the chest with a double knee strike.

[BlackAkuma]

It was always a weird thing for Dizzy to see her mother taking hits like this. While she wasn’t the biggest fan of wrestling growing up - not at all, really - she had grown up with this colossus of a woman, always towering over her, so huge and impossibly imposing that it was hard to think of her as anything but an unstoppable juggernaut. She knew that her mother’s record wasn’t perfect, despite the nickname she went with. She knew that smaller wrestlers had beaten her before - maybe it didn’t happen all that often, but it had happened. And still, it was weird to look at her and think that anyone could slow her down, let alone bring her to a halt.

But that was what was happening, right here and now. It seemed like Angela Belti had her work cut out for her.

It was a thought that was crossing the elder wrestler, too, as her opponent sent her reeling. There was a lot of power in those strikes, and unlike many opponents who favored this kind of fighting style, she couldn't count on her superior range to keep the fight at a comfortable distance. She was going to wind up taking more than a few hits in a match like this, and there was simply no way around it.

Charlotte was coming, and she was coming hard, moving straight towards her with alarming alacrity, closing the gap with swift, powerful strides that belied her athleticism. She could tell that the woman was intending to use something straightforward and powerful, but it was impossible to guess as she moved - could’ve been a dropkick, could’ve been a lariat, could’ve been a rolling koppu, could’ve been any number of things.

Erring on the side of caution, Angela raised her arms in defense, and this proved to be the sage move, as her opponent launched at her with both knees, turning her body into a living cannonball. She slammed into Angela’s upturned arms and sent her staggering back on unstable feet.

It was only by happenstance that she didn’t fall over, as they happened to be close to the corner. Instead, she wound up hitting the turnbuckle with her back, and that was where she stayed for the moment, leaning against it with her arms on the ropes for support, shaking the cobwebs out.