[#1 Contender Match] Charlotte Ravel' vs Yumie Hayashi - Some you win and some you lose

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Charlotte's condition left much to be desired, but she understood that she had no right to slow down now. From the very beginning, she had no doubts that Yumie was a strong opponent, but now she was sure that if she gave this white-haired woman even one break, then her chances of winning would rush to zero. Therefore, despite the pain in her muscles and heavy breathing, the Sand Lizard acted with maximum determination.

The scream from her rival's friend didn't help Yumie to react in time. By the time she found Charlotte in front of her, the martial arts master had already made her jump. Sparing no effort, she straightened both her legs, ruthlessly kicking the white-haired woman right in the face. A deafening unpleasant click reverberated through the arena, and Yumie's upper body was thrown back with such force that when the back of her head hit the mat, the entire ring shook.

“Pha... phaa...” Charlotte panted, lying on her back.

Endurance has never been her strongest point, which is why she usually prefers to build up the pace gradually. In a way, she wasn't playing on her own field, because right now she had no choice but to work to the maximum of her abilities, sparing no reserves of stamina. Because of this, she didn't have time to rest.

The Frenchwoman pushed off the mat and took a sitting position, quickly analyzing the situation. Her opponent was lying on her back without any signs of movement, it seems this time she felt the full power of the Sand Lizard's legs in all its glory. Charlotte cast a quick glance to the side. Glancing at her rival's friend, her eyes narrowed slightly. Although this woman did not directly interfere in the match, her constant warnings about the approaching attack from Charlotte greatly annoyed the martial arts master.

Anyway, it didn't matter, Charlotte didn't have the time or desire to make a comment to her anyway, instead she had to focus on winning. This match was important to her and therefore she just shouldn't pay attention to other things. With another deep breath, Charlotte pushed off the mat once more and got to her feet.

Taking a step towards her opponent, she intended to bend down to grab Yumie's arm at the wrist and elbow in order to then pull her up and thereby force the white-haired woman to her feet. However, she just needed Yumie to take a more or less vertical position, because the next step the Sand Lizard was going to press her shoulders against the front of her opponent, and then straighten up to her full height, thereby placing Yumie in the a fireman's carry position.

“Gggghhh...” sounded strangled through her clenched teeth.

Charlotte certainly did not have the same outstanding physical strength as most heavyweights, so although she still could lift her opponent onto her shoulders, it was definitely not easy for her. Therefore, she would not hesitate, she wanted to prepare a solid ground for the next move, and therefore she intended to strain her arms to then throw Yumie forward. However, it was obvious that she hadn't put in so much effort just to let the white-haired woman fall to the mat. Instead, Charlotte intended to swing her left leg up as sharply as possible, bent at the knee, thereby sending her knee to the falling Yumie's face with the help of a go 2 sleep!

[Sigma Morgan]

Kimiko was worried for her friend, she knew how much this match meant to her and what an opportunity winning it would give her, but Charlotte seemed she was going to do everything in her power to make sure that didn't happen. A drop kick to the face had sent Yumie down onto the canvas in a daze. Kimiko got as close to the ring as possible, pressing up against the apron as her friend laid motionless and her opponent was panting, obviously Charlotte was the first to sit back, which meant nothing good could happen to Yumie in the moments to come.

Kimiko momentarily made eye contact with the pink haired woman, feeling her glare pierce her. The young lioness had nothing against the woman, hell she didn't even know her and she didn't feel like she was doing anything wrong. Kimiko remained quite as Charlotte got back up to her feet, watching as the woman took a step toward her friend and pulled her up by her arm. "Gnn" Yumie let out a slight groan as she was forced into a brief vertical position before her opponent lifted her up onto her shoulders.

Yumie's arms and legs dangled like tinsel strands on a Christmas tree, finding herself stuck in the fireman's carry position and her body refusing to move as her opponent fully got her up and into a fireman's carry position. Yumie wasn't there for long, just long enough for Charlotte to catch her footing before the woman shoved her forward and off of her shoulder's! Yumie's face was met with the woman's knee on the way down, her body recoiling back into a vertical position for a split second before falling back, though almost on instinct or pure last second adrenaline, Yumie rolled out of the ring and onto the floor below sparing her from any further abuse or a possible pin attempt!

Kimiko rushed over to her friend, standing over her to check on her. "Yumie, are you you okay?!" Kimiko asked urgently as the referee kept a close eye on her, making sure she wasn't interfering with the match itself.

[skip-stop]

Even if it took a lot of effort, the Sand Lizard was able to first lift the heavyweight onto her shoulders, and then send Yumie down towards her knee. When Charlotte's knee crashed into the white-haired woman's face, many of the spectators in the arena gasped. It might have seemed that the Frenchwoman finally had the opportunity to use the finisher or even immediately try to pin her opponent. However…

Literally immediately after Yumie collapsed on the mat, she rolled to the side. Before Charlotte could even blink, her opponent rolled out of the ring, crashing onto the concrete floor in the ringside. Kimiko, as expected, ran up to her friend right away. The Sand Lizard looked at the referee and quickly realized that the striped shirt was about to start counting to ten.

What was Charlotte supposed to do at that moment? Just stand there and do nothing, thus giving her opponent almost ten seconds of rest? Even she is not that noble. She had put in too much effort to gain the lead in the match, and she couldn't let it go to waste just because her opponent had left the ring.

The Frenchwoman took a deep breath and then leaned forward slightly. Pushing off the mat with force, she rushed towards Yumie and her friend, gaining speed with each new step. A baseball slide? A suicide dive? No. Charlotte had something better on her mind, and even Kimiko, who, although technically not interfering in the match, tried to help her friend from the first minute, would not be an obstacle in her path.

At the last step, the Sand Lizard intended to grab the top rope, and then forcefully push off from the mat and jump up, simultaneously turning one hundred and eighty degrees. As soon as her feet touched the top rope, she bounced off from it and leaned back in order to use a springboard moonsault to fall on Yumie and even on Kimiko if necessary.

Spoiler

[Sigma Morgan]

Yumie groaned as she lay on the floor, moving her arm to cover her eyes as Kimiko stood by her side, looking down and checking on her. "Fff...uck. I'm fine" she managed to groan out as the referee was prepared to start counting her out. "You might wanna get back in the ring" Kimiko said though she wasn't about to interfere or help Yumie back up. Instead of focusing on her friend trying to encourage her while also making sure that finisher didn't scramble her brain like an egg.

Yumie began to get up slowly, first, to a knee where she rested, catching her breath. "Careful, not too fast" Kimiko warned not wanting her friend to get a sudden rush and become dizzy. As Yumie slowly began to push back up to her feet, Kimiko's attention shifted back to Charlotte to see the woman running towards them. The young lioness's eyes widened, not sure what to expect from the tall middleweight.

Kimiko a bit shocked didn't warn Yumie this time, instead let out a gasp and watched like a deer in headlights as the Frenchwoman jumped up onto the top rope and then turned in fluid motion before jumping off with movement that could only be described as art. Yumie was just getting all the way back up as Charlotte jumped and was right above them like a storm cloud. 'Shit" Yumie cursed as Charlotte came down on top of them both like they were a pair of crash pads, knocking them both to the floor as if they were just bowling pins.

Yumie and Kimiko both let out a grunt simultaneously as Yumie seemed to be knocked straight back to square one, and Kimiko just so happened to be caught in the cross fire. Rolling onto her stomach, Kimiko let out a groan as Yumie remained silent and on her back.

[skip-stop]

It was a very dangerous moment, and Charlotte was fully aware of it. Being an experienced fighter, she knew perfectly well that in desperate moments an opponent can find additional strength even when defeat seems imminent. Therefore, she knew that despite the fact that she had done a very good job on Yumie, if her friend reacted in time to the actions of the Frenchwoman and let the white-haired woman know about it, then everything could end very badly for the Sand Lizard. However, she was willing to take the risk at that moment.

When she grabbed the top rope, her opponent almost got to her feet thanks to Kimiko, but that was the mistake of those two. While helping her friend, Kimiko was distracted and could not once again let Yumie know about the approaching attack. Soaring into the air, Charlotte rushed towards both her rival and her friend. It all happened too fast, but she could have sworn she saw the amazement in Kimiko's eyes the moment she realized what was going on.

To the roar of the audience, Charlotte collapsed on top of Yumie and Kimiko at once. The sound of bodies falling to the concrete floor reverberated through the arena. It was not painless for the pink-haired woman, of course, because a fall from almost three meters high cannot be painless. However, it was definitely less painful for her because she landed on a pillow of flesh and blood, while Yumie and Kimiko landed on bare concrete.

Gritting her teeth, the Sand Lizard forced herself to roll off her rival and her friend. Perhaps she lost her concentration for a moment due to the painful sensations, because as a result, she found herself closer to Kimiko than to Yumie. She only discovered it after she got up on all fours. However, perhaps it was what people usually call fate. Initially, Charlotte had not intended to say a single word to this black-haired woman, but now was perhaps the only moment when she could afford to do so.

“Your actions are unworthy of a real fighter...” she said, getting up on one knee and not caring at all if Kimiko could hear it because of the damage she had just received. “Your friend wants to become an openweight title contender, so don't you think she should do it on her own?”

Charlotte had never had a thousand friends behind her back. In fact, Astrid and Nerissa were her only friends. But she was sure of one thing. If she were given the opportunity to get a chance to claim a title, whether it be the openweight, middleweight or any other title, she would definitely flatly refuse any help from her friends. From Charlotte's point of view, everything was as simple as possible. If you can't win a match without help, is that victory really worth anything? Helping a friend is always a noble urge, but not when it comes to such an important match.

Having nothing more to say to this black-haired woman, Charlotte straightened up to her full height and took a step towards Yumie. She intended to grab her opponent's arm in the elbow and wrist area, then force her to her feet with one sharp movement. Even if Yumie couldn't stand properly, Charlotte would have helped. Yes, she would not have done it out of the kindness of her heart, because she had a specific goal. Even if she had to help her opponent, she would still force Yumie to take two steps forward before throwing her into the ring, forcing her to roll under the bottom rope.

It wasn't Charlotte's style to teach anyone about life. Her own life was clearly not the best example to follow. She was a monster once. But seven years have passed since then. Since then, she has tried to do everything in her power to change. Self-control and self-development. Among all the fighters in Victoria's team, there was probably no more difficult person than Charlotte. Knowing all the things she had done in the past, she just wanted to become a better person. Therefore, she wanted to be a worthy example for the rest of the fighter. And so she wanted to at least hint to Kimiko that not all benevolent actions are actually such.

If she could get Yumie back in the ring, she would immediately follow the white-haired woman. After making sure that her opponent didn't have the opportunity to put her foot on the rope, she would immediately lie down on her, pressing her ample breasts against Yumie's. Charlotte knew that time was not on her side, but there was still hope in her soul that Yumie had not enough time to recover from the damage she had received. Therefore, the Frenchwoman intended to hook her opponent's far leg, and then look at the referee, who had already managed to first lie down next to the fighters, and then…

“ONE!” Swept through the arena after the first palm slap of the striped shirt on the mat.

[Sigma Morgan]

After being knocked to the ground unexpectedly by a tall flying middleweight, Kimiko was slowly trying to get up, being the woman who had taken the least punishment tonight out of the three women involved in what just happened. As she got up on her knees, she heard the woman admonishing her. Kimiko clenched her eyes shut and gulped, surely expecting another hit to come after such words, but it seemed Charlotte would spare her that, whether it was out of focus on the match or just mercy, likely didn't matter.

When Kimiko reopened her eyes and turned her head, she saw the pink haired woman pulling Yumie back up to her feet. Yumie let out a groan as she was forced up and sent back into the ring shortly after. Every second was precious for both women right now. For Yumie it was time to recover, for Charllote, it was time to win the match. The pink haired woman was back in the ring with her seconds later, pushing her away from the ropes a bit more before going for the pin. Yumie could feel Charlotte's chest press down on her own as the referee dropped down and began to count.

ONE, TWO, TH-

Yumie raised her shoulder and thrusted her chest up into Charlotte's, just barely cutting the count short before rolling onto her side. "Atleast... buy me... dinner first" Yumie managed to joke with a bit of pain in her voice as she took deep breaths still trying to recover and refocus after having her second chance at a title match almost ended just moments earlier.

[skip-stop]

Charlotte usually tried to do her best to ensure that the action did not move outside the ring. The reason wasn't that it made the fight much more dangerous, it was because of time. Although she acted as quickly and decisively as possible, but while she was getting Yumie to her feet and returning her to the ring, she gave her opponent a few extra seconds to rest. Perhaps it might seem like the most insignificant to some, but the Sand Lizard knew well that sometimes the outcome of a match can depend on just a fraction of a second.

However, it was absolutely useless to speculate on this topic now. What's done is done. The pink-haired woman only had to find out if she had made enough effort to hear the referee slap the mat three times. To do this, the Frenchwoman used literally her entire body, tightly pressing against Yumie.

“TWO!!”

Instead of relaxing and enjoying the feeling of approaching victory, Charlotte only tightened her body more. She wasn't the type to celebrate a victory ahead of time. But even with all her composure, when the referee raised her hand for the third time, her heart began to beat faster. One more second and she would justify the responsibility placed on her by her friend.

The referee's hand went to the mat, and it was at that moment that Yumie's body tensed. With one sharp movement, the woman lying under Charlotte turned sharply to the side, causing the Sand Lizard to roll off her. Everything happened so fast that many were not sure if Yumie had managed to break the pin in time. Therefore, the referee hastened to clarify the situation.

“ONLY TWO!!” She spoke loudly and clearly, raising her hand above her head and sticking out two fingers.

“Merde...” Charlotte said quietly, letting her emotions run wild for a moment.

After such an unsuccessful pin, any fighter will have a desire to rest a little and catch their breath. Charlotte was no exception, but after years of relentless training, she had learned to resist such desires. Instead of letting herself and her opponent rest, the Sand Lizard took a deep breath and rose to one knee.

As soon as she took a vertical position, she heard her opponent's comment. Charlotte blinked rapidly several times, as if the white-haired woman was speaking in a different language. And then a slight blush appeared on the cheeks of the Frenchwoman. She obviously hadn't expected to hear something like this. Especially from Yumie. This woman seemed to her... someone who doesn't make such comments.

“Are you saying this to all the rivals who are trying to pin you?" Charlotte asked.

But she couldn't afford to just wait for an answer. Therefore, she would immediately leap on Yumie. The Sand Lizard intended to press her front side against her opponent's back, while simultaneously wrapping her left arm around the white-haired woman's neck. If she had succeeded, she would have fixed the hold with her right arm, and then rolled onto her back to throw her legs over her opponent's waist, thereby trying to take the victory with the help of a rear naked choke hold.