Noblesse Oblige: Maria Crawford vs. Emily Nelson

[BlackAkuma]

***
Match Type
Standard
Victory Conditions
Pinfall, Submission, or KO
***

The lights. The glamor. The style. The sound. The roar of the crowd. The steady, heavy beat of music all around you, pounding and pulsing and driving you crazy. Freia had almost forgotten how amazing it felt to be in the thick of this.

And it wasn’t even her match, that was the crazy thing.

She hung around the gorilla position, watching the screen from a shadowy corner alongside SA-KI, as Maria Crawford made her official LAW debut, coming down to the ring with Zero Kotobuki close behind. Though all four to the Fallen Angels were in attendance, the dominatrix had elected to only come out with her favorite little partner, reasoning that they might scare their target for the evening away if they were seen in full force. Given who they were dealing with, it was a safe assumption.

It was also a safe assumption that she would turn down the offer Maria was going to make her. After all, you didn’t get a name like ‘Noble Fighter’ by breaking the rules. It had been a while since the two crossed, but she remembered the woman as being stuck up, the sportswoman type, fighting for the challenge and love of the sport. It had been a few years, things could change, but she was skeptical this was one of those cases.

Four-Eyes would make the offer. Emily would refuse. The match would be on, and if Maria couldn't handle her alone, then…they could have a little fun with things.

Maria, on the other hand, was far more confident. There was a confident stride to her steps, even more so than usual, in part because she was excited for the chance to fight another Englishwoman for once. But the prospect of being able to tempt Emily Nelson, the chance to get the Scottish warrior on their side, was an appealing fruit to dangle in front of her face. If she could make the woman see the futility of her situation, present the positives in a compelling light, and give her a good fight on top of it all, then maybe….

At any rate, she was going with optimism as she made her way up the steps, only stopping just before she slid through the ropes to look down at Zero. ”Hang back on this one.” She wagged a finger at her companion and reached down to hand off her whip for safekeeping. “I’ll give you the signal if I need help, and the others might join in shortly, but otherwise? I have this. Understood?”

”Understood.”

Ah, always the conversationalist.

Maria nodded and slipped in between the ropes. She took a few sultry steps towards the corner and promptly spun about to lean her back against it, hoping to make herself as comfortable as possible while she waited.

[Underdoggo]

From the other end of the ramp, the crowd sounded like a single, live animal, howling in exhilaration. It was a sound that Emily had grown used to over a long career, but it was only now that she realized just how much she had missed it. Even though she had never been one of the biggest stars back in Wrestle Angels, all the same, she had loved every minute of it. The lights, the action, the exhilaration that came from being in the middle of a match. The friends, the rivals, the enemies, and above all the spectacle of it all. She had been right there, in the center of it. And tonight, she got to have it all back.

Taking a deep breath, Emily brushed her mauve her back, and the moment her name was announced, she went striding down the ramp.

Spoiler

The crowd greeted her enthusiastically. Many of them, she hoped, remembered her from the Wrestle Angels days, though even if they didn't, she still hoped they cheered because they liked what they saw: a tall, confident, fit woman striding down the ramp, ready to do battle. She paid little attention to the crowd, other than a slight smile in their direction, but kept her attention focused on the ring. On the ring, and on the leather-clad woman who was waiting for her in there.

She had encountered Maria Crawford once or twice back in the old league, but otherwise hadn't interacted with her that much. She had always found the woman distasteful, using her air of haughty nobility to mask the fact that she was just another sadistic bully. The slighter, green haired woman who was Maria's perpetual shadow was there as well, hanging at the edge of the ring: Emily had only encountered Zero Kotobuki once in a tag match, and even then knew her better by reputation. But it was a brutal enough of a reputation: it wasn't for nothing that the vicious striker had been nicknamed the "Mass Murder Weapon" back in the old league.

Emily had been looking forward to encounter some of her fellow former Angels back in the ring. She just hadn't realized that LAW had picked up the worse as well as better angels.

Sliding under the ropes, Emily stood to her full height and rotated her shoulders as she stared her opponent down. "Maria," the she said icily. "You're looking well." She glanced at Maria's follower. "As are you, Zero."

[BlackAkuma]

Maria had been standing with her back to the ramp, facing the corner while she stretched, but at the sound of Emily’s music, she looked over her shoulder with a thin, knowing smile. ”Ah.” She pushed her glasses further up her nose. ”There she is.”

There she was, indeed. The sight of Emily Nelson was a hard one to miss. While she wasn’t the tallest woman in Wrestle Angels, she was definitely up there, cutting an imposing figure as she made her way down to the ring. An athletic build, that unique shade of hair, and that focused face.

This was worth the trouble. She was sure of it.

The woman’s accent brought a smile out of her - she was used to living in Japan, spoke the language fluently and had no qualms with it, but it was nice to hear an accent from her birthplace. Just another reason she was in this ring and not one of the others. ”Emily Nelson, tall and proud. Good to see you, good to be seen.”

Maria made her way out of the corner and lowered into her grappling stance, eager to begin. ”I’ve a few things I wanted to ask you, but we can get to them in a moment.” Her eyes narrowed behind her glasses with a mischievous hint to her grin. ”Shall we begin?”

[Underdoggo]

Maria, Emily noted, seemed genuinely happy to see her. No doubt she was busy imagining all the things she could do to her with that infamous whip of hers, Emily thought ruefully. Or maybe on some level Maria was genuinely happy to see a fellow former Wrestle Angel-- and a fellow Briton at that-- here in the ring with her. If that was the case, then the feeling certainly wasn't mutual. There were heels who were heels just because it was a role to play in the ring, and then there were heels because it was who they truly were inside. Maria certainly fell into the latter category.

Even so, Emily paused for a second as Maria mentioned something she wanted to ask her. Whatever it was, though, it would have to wait, as Maria was heading towards her and moving into a grappling stance, her glasses flashing in the arena lights. Maria never did take those damned things off in the ring, Emily recalled.

She stretched her arms behind her head before the belll rang. "We shall," she said, settling into a grappler's pose in mirror to the dominatrix. And with that, the bell rang, and she slowly circled Maria, approaching for a classic collar and elbow lockup. All the while, of course, she remained quite wary: she was dead certain that Maria had some nasty trick in store...

[BlackAkuma]

Maria was calm on the outside, the picture of perfected poise, but inside she had no small amount of jitters. While this wasn’t the first time she’d wrestled since Wrestle Angels dissolved, sparring was a whole different thing than what she was about to experience. She and the other Fallen Angels had trained together, tuned up, but there was only so much that could do and so far it could go. She had to feel the aggression, the pain, the power of her opponent, and Emily Nelson was an ideal opponent in that regard.

She circled her foe, wary and wily, before the two came forward and locked horns with the collar-and-elbow. Maria was pushed back a step, then another, before she was able to summon enough power to stop the forward momentum by slamming her feet down.

”Hm. Strong as ever.” Maria spoke through her gritted teeth as the two of them found a stalemate. ”But strength isn’t everything, dear.”

Maria threw her body to the side, falling down and abandoning the lockup all at once, letting her opponent pass by. She shot her legs out at the same time, scissoring her opponent’s calves, and twisted about, trying to trip her up with a drop toehold.

[Underdoggo]

The moment Emily locked up with Maria, it was as though everything was clicking into place again. Instincts that she hadn't relied on for a long time suddenly came to the fore again as she met Maria with a close grapple, feeling the other woman's strength against hers, her arms twisting against hers and her flared breath against her cheek as the two women struggled for dominance. God, she had missed this.

Of course, even as Emily pushed Maria back, she knew her opponent wasn't an idiot. A ruthless sadist, yes, but not an idiot. She had to know that she wouldn't win against Emily in a purely physical contest. No, she had to be up to something.

And then Maria outright confirmed it by suddenly dropping low, ensnaring her legs around Emily's ankle and twisting, forcing her to drop forwards. Emily was taken aback, but not surprised: acting on instinct, she shielded her fall, her palms slapping down against the mat to prevent herself from impacting against it. Even though her lower leg was being winched back by the drop toe hold, Emily nonetheless turned her head to face Maria, an unamused expression on her face. "No," she agreed, "it isn't."

And with that, she would try to twist her body to the side before trying to throw an decidedly unladylike punch at Maria's face.

[BlackAkuma]

Maria had to resist the urge to have a full laugh when the Noble Fighter fell, enjoying the sight of Emily Nelson getting laid low. While the two didn’t have intimate knowledge of each, she was quite familiar with the type that this woman represented: The upper class, the elites, the so-called paragons of wrestling that looked down on a woman like her. She’d been killing her with disapproving looks since this match had started, but they were far less cutting now that they were on different levels.

It was only a drop toehold, far from winning the match, but satisfying all the same.

The punch to her face that came afterwards? Decidedly less so.

The blow cracked Maria clean on the nose and sent her rolling away, breaking the hold she had on Emily along with it. She came up on a single knee and rubbed her jaw, rolling it around for a moment before she stood back up.

”Rude.”

With her smile dimmed, she brought her arms up and motioned for Emily to come at her once more. ”Try that again.”

[Underdoggo]

Had that last blow to Maria's noggin been rude and unladlylike? Absolutely. Was it against the rules? Absolutely not; if anything, given that it had been a simple right hook with intention to stun and nothing more, it was well within acceptable boundaries of the rules. Was she going to waste feigning manners with someone with Maria's reputation? Of course not.

In a smooth motion, Emily rolled back up to her feet, watching as Maria did the same. She had been careful, of course, not to hit the other woman's glasses: as much of an ignoble harridan as she was, Emily wasn't about to get an unfair advantage by blinding Maria. Even though, of course, she strongly suspected her fellow Englishwoman would have no such reservations.

"Gladly," Emily breathed in response to Maria's challenge. Up she went, springing right at Maria, arm raised for a clothesline. She was no fool, though: at the last second, she would spin to the side, hoping to evade whatever sneaky counter Maria had in mind, before wrapping her arms around Maria's waist and trying to arch back and nail her with a quick and effective suplex!

[BlackAkuma]

While Maria kept her face placid on the outside, things were a tad more tumultuous within. She had known going in that this would be a challenging bout - in fact, she would want nothing less. If Emily wasn’t a worthy wrestler, there’d be little point in making her an offer. But she had hoped to at least start off in a controlling position before things broke down, and she certainly hadn't planned on being waylaid so early in the match. A disappointing development.

But not one that she couldn't recover from. Patience, Maria.

The two moved in again, looking to lock horns, with Maria intending to exploit the closeness and score an eye rake. It would’ve been a good move to swing things in her favor, surely, but perhaps it was a tad too predictable - that would explain why Emily was one step ahead, moving around, ducking under, and capturing her by the waist.

Maria knew what was coming next, but there was a wide gulf between knowing something was about to happen and doing something to stop. She had only just raised her arm to elbow Emily in the face when the Noble Fighter lifted her up and sent her flying with a suplex, one that had her coming down hard on her neck and shoulders. She rolled with it, reducing some of the damage, but it still left her on one knee as she reeled, doing her best to take the pain in stride. ”Not bad. I don’t recall your duplexes having such snap.“ She rolled her neck around as she started to push up. ”Tuning up in th gym, I take it?”

[Underdoggo]

Emily grunted as, in the middle of lifting Maria, the other Briton managed to jab her in the face with her elbow. The blow smarted, even caused her vision to flare a little...but it was not enough to stop her. Gritting her teeth, she continued her backwards arch, lifting Maria as though she were a sack of weights over her head (a comparison that Maria would not have appreciated, but Emily didn't particularly care). She was rewarded by a dull, satisfying crump as Maria crashed hard into the mat.

The move caused Emily to drop onto her back. Shaking off some of the dizziness from that elbow, Emily nonetheless rolled smoothly up to her knees and feet. Opposite her, Maria was also pushing up, now on one knee and looking a little worse for wear. Emily had to give credit where it was due, Maria could at least take her bumps.

"Always, luv," Emily replied, allowing herself a slight smile as she strode towards Maria. "One must keep in shape when one doesn't have such interesting hobbies or minions as yourself." Without even waiting for a retort, she would grab for one of Maria's arms and yank her to her feet, wrenching her arm tightly at the wrist in a standing armbar. ""What about you? Been keeping limber at all?" she would ask casually before trying to whip Maria towards the ropes...and then running after her, hoping to nail her with a clothesline.