Akari Ito vs Charlotte Ravel

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When Akari's face landed on the mat almost at the same time as Charlotte's butt, a rumble reverberated through the arena, making some of the audience wince. Without a doubt, a move like this was capable of causing tremendous damage to any fighter, even one as awesome as Akari.

However, even at such a moment the black-haired woman was able to surprise Charlotte. The Frenchwoman thought that after that Akari would be stunned and she would need at least a few moments to put her thoughts in order. But as soon as the Sand Lizard released her opponent's head, Akari immediately covered her head with her hands, apparently wanting to protect it from Charlotte's possible attacks.

“Just like a real turtle...” flashed through Charlotte's mind.

On one of the rare days when Charlotte decided to relax instead of another workout, she lay on the couch and watched the National Geographic Channel. There she saw a bearded vulture hunting a turtle. To cope with the sturdy shell, this bird of prey lifts the turtle to an incredible height, and then just throws it down, gravity will do the rest. Simple, but brilliant in its own way.

But Charlotte was a lizard, not a vulture. Therefore, she had her own methods.

Trying to keep her breathing under control, the Frenchwoman leaned forward, simultaneously throwing her legs back in one sharp movement. Thus, she wanted to lie across her opponent's shoulder blades in order to limit the Sea Turtle's ability to move. At the same time, she intended to grab Akari's left arm, then pull the black-haired woman's arm to the side, and then wrap her legs around that arm.

She hoped that her opponent's stunned state wouldn't allow her to put up much resistance, so if the Sand Lizard managed to grab Akari's left arm with her legs, she would immediately grab the Japanese woman's right arm to block it under her left armpit.

With the last step, she was going to join both palms on her opponent's face, and then start pulling Akari's upper body back. Many people knew this move as a scissored armbar crossface, but Charlotte trained for a long time to make it her signature submission hold, to which she gave a different name. The sand ambush.

[Misfit_Alien]

Akari's attempt at defending herself would be met with a stiff assault from the invading Sand Lizard, who mounted a unique offense suited to picking away at the Sea Turtle's shell. A quick string of well-executed moves would see the Frenchwoman lock her Japanese foe down on the canvas, taking advantage of her dazed and frantic state. With Akari's arms raised in an attempt to protect her head, she left the red-headed warrior with a clear target as Charlotte proceeded to lock her into a tight submission hold.

Spoiler

Akari felt a sharp pain in both of her shoulders, the tendons and muscles being bent back at a sharp angle, with Charlotte piling on the pressure with every passing second. Additionally, the placement of the Sand Lizard's hands forced some torque onto her neck, making an already terrible position even worse for the Sea Turtle as she struggled. Every bit of resistance from the Japanese woman only invited more pain, her chin grinding into the canvas as she tried to maintain her composure.

The Sea Turtle endured the hold for as long as she could, kicking the mat as she breathed heavily. Her feet skid across the canvas as she tries to maneuver herself around with her legs, scrambling to try and overturn Charlotte's submission move with a counter roll-up variation. While most turtles were useless and defenseless on their backs, Akari was no such creature. Once she managed to flip herself over, she'd force Charlotte's shoulders down to the canvas in the process. The Sand Lizard would be dragged into a sudden ultimatum, facing another sudden defeat should she not release the hold within three tight seconds as the referee dropped down to the mat to start counting.


"1...!!!"

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Acting quickly, Charlotte lay across the Sea Turtle and after a few moments closed the black-haired woman in the submission hold. However, despite the fact that Charlotte longed to surpass such an outstanding woman as Akari, she tried to keep her mind as clear as possible, so as not to let emotions begin to control her actions.

Instead of using sudden movements, the Frenchwoman began to gradually increase the pressure on both the shoulder joints and the neck of her opponent. Yes, sudden movements would certainly have caused Akari a lot more pain, but at the same time there was a high risk that the Sea Turtle would be seriously injured. This was definitely not what Charlotte wanted.

Contrary to the pink-haired woman's expectations, Akari did not stop resisting for a second. She was certainly in pain because Charlotte's hold was very secure, but she kept her muscles tense, making the task more difficult for the Sand Lizard. Seeing that she had no intention of stopping, the referee didn't even bother asking the Japanese woman if she wanted to give up.

Perhaps when Akari began to actively move her legs, Charlotte should have increased her vigilance, but she believed that she was in too advantageous a position now and therefore her opponent would need much more effort to find a way out of the current situation. The Sand Lizard realized too late that she was wrong about that.

With a sudden movement, Akari made both of them literally switch places in the blink of an eye. Now Charlotte was the one who was pinned to the mat. There was only one, but very important difference, namely the fact that Charlotte was pressed face up against the mat, which in turn meant that…

“ONE!”

“TWO!!”

The arena was filled with excited noise, and goosebumps ran down Charlotte's spine, despite all her composure. Everything happened so quickly that it took her a moment to realize the gravity of the situation she was in. It was only when the referee raised her hand, preparing to slap the mat for the third time, that the martial arts master realized in all its glory that she was only one second away from defeat.

Her body reacted before her mind could form any plan. Almost every muscle in her body tensed, turning her body into a kind of spring. At the same moment when the referee's hand went down, the Sand Lizard pushed off the mat with force, straightening her legs at the same time. She did it so quickly and abruptly that in the result almost two meters of free space was created between her and Akari. But that wasn't what was important, it was much more important that after that the referee raised her hand above her head and stuck out two fingers.

“Only two!” She said loudly and clearly to the noise of the audience.

“Merde...” muttered Charlotte, getting to her feet. “That was close...”

[Misfit_Alien]

It all happened so fast...that would likely be the running theme between these two, inspired by the blazing passion they brought out of each other as fighters, each wanting to see who would remain after the fire between them burned out, eager to push their limits and answer the question as to who the better woman was. Pure competition. Pure sportsmanship. An energy so electrifying it brought out emotions neither could truly contend with or explain properly. They truly brought the best out of each other, no doubt about it. As Akari flipped Charlotte over for a surprise pin attempt, the Frenchwoman would react in a split second upon realization. Akari could feel the tension in Charlotte's body as she reacted in real time, breaking the pin in the nick of time. Her body erupted in such an explosive manner, muscles unleashing a hefty amount of force to make sure that this pinfall attempt was properly shattered. The ensuing kick-out separated the two by a fair margin, allowing both to catch their breath. Meanwhile, the audience roared with approval from the stands.

"Close one-...I knew you were slippery...'Sand Lizard'...but I'm still impressed at how quick you can move. Not a trace of wasted energy...practically instinctual. That's what I'm looking for. That 'spark' I felt in our first spar...What I realized during the rematch...and what I'm feeling right now-...you're THE opponent for me, Charlotte. One of the few I can face and feel satisfied by-..." Akari said, pushing up to her feet. "I told you-...my mind focuses on a fight, and I can't stop it from racing...thinking about all the ways this could end-...I wonder, out of all the scenarios I'm picturing in my head, will you be able to see this next one coming~?" She said, glancing up at Charlotte with a look of burning hot passion and ferocity as she pushed herself back up to her feet.

The crowd's ovation became muffled white noise to the Sea Turtle. Again, she was focused SOLELY on Charlotte. Nothing else mattered except for her and their match, short-sighted as that might be. In the moment, Akari couldn't help but hone in on the Frenchwoman, studying every aspect of her body and looking for any sign as to what she might do next as she readied her own follow-up.

She bent down low and sprinted toward Charlotte, darting in to get within grappling range as she tried to latch onto the woman's wrist. If the Sea Turtle managed to pull the Sand Lizard into her clutches, she'd send her across the ring, colliding with the ropes at high speeds, forcing Charlotte to rebound off them, only to pass by her in the blink of an eye, leaping up toward the middle-most rope to try and catch the pink-haired woman by surprise.

In less than a second, Akari found her balance on the rope, crouching down low and utilizing her weight to add more tension to the cable. She proceeded to lunge forward, LAUNCHING herself like a missile at Charlotte, tucking her legs in like a coiled spring, releasing all that pent-up energy once she had her target locked, and shooting them outward like buckshot from the barrel of a shotgun as she aimed to impact the Frenchwoman directly in her chest with a Modified Springboard Dropkick!!!

Spoiler

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Trying not to waste time, Charlotte began to get to her feet. To her surprise, Akari did the same, despite the fact that a few moments ago the situation for the black-haired woman was far from the best. Moreover, the Sea Turtle began a short monologue, thereby showing that the damage she suffered was a drop in the ocean for her and that her tanks were still full. Akari finished speaking just as the two women finally got to their feet.

It was no secret that the Sand Lizard shared her rival's feelings. Knowing how strong Akari was, Charlotte longed to surpass this woman. The ultimate goal of the pink-haired woman was to become the best fighter of this era, and for this she literally needs to be ahead of such an outstanding woman as Akari, otherwise her goal will remain only a dream. Surely the Sea Turtle felt the same way. And maybe there was only one difference between them.…

“Akari,” Charlotte said, clenching her fists and taking her fighting stance. “You talk too much...”

The Frenchwoman's eyes flashed and she rushed forward. The start of the match turned out to be a complete disaster for her, but with great effort she managed to get some good moments. Now the pink-haired woman had to prove that these few moments were not just trivial luck.

Akari did not stand still and began to rapidly approach Charlotte. Although the Sand Lizard was not as verbose as her rival, she listened attentively to every word of the Japanese woman. The Sea Turtle definitely had a plan, and therefore the martial arts master needed to understand what exactly Akari was up to.

When the distance between them was significantly reduced, the Frenchwoman took a deep breath and threw her right hand forward, wanting to use a quick jab to force Akari to go on the defensive. However, instead of playing by her rules, the Sea Turtle decided to impose her own pace on Charlotte. She took an unexpected extra step forward, violating the Frenchwoman's personal space. And before Charlotte could react, Akari grabbed her left wrist.

“Merde...” flashed through her mind.

Akari took a quick step to the side, while forcefully pulling Charlotte's arm, thereby using an Irish whip to send the martial arts master to the far ropes. The new round definitely started at high speed, which meant Charlotte had no right to slow down. On the last step, she spun around, pressing her back against the ropes. Bouncing off from them, she prepared to get close to Akari again and try to punch her in the face. But…

As soon as the Sand Lizard took two steps forward, Akari slipped past her. At that moment, Charlotte's instincts started howling like a pack of wolves. Surely Akari's plan was to get around Charlotte and hit her from behind so that she wouldn't have a chance to dodge or block it.

“You have to turn around!” She commanded herself mentally.

Charlotte abruptly pressed her right foot to the mat, thereby suppressing her own inertia in order to then turn sharply in the opposite direction. At the same time, she prepared to swing her right arm to get ahead of Akari and hit her before the black-haired woman herself could do the same.

But as soon as Charlotte turned around, she realized that she had made a very big mistake.

Once again demonstrating truly unimaginable speed, Akari didn't just attack Charlotte from behind. Using the ropes, she soared into the air. Ironically, Charlotte was indeed partially right. She didn't have a chance to dodge or block it. Both of the Sea Lizard's feet slammed into her chest.

“GGGGHHAAAAAA!!!!”

The impulse was so tremendous that Charlotte's upper body shot towards the mat like a comet. The force of the collision was so great that the Frenchwoman's body bounced off the ring surface. This force not only threw Charlotte back, but also literally caused her to flip over in the air. To the cheers of the audience, the pink-haired woman found herself in a sitting position at the ropes. Her back was pressed against the bottom rope, and her neck against the middle one. Due to the massive damage, her vision was blurred, and although she desperately tried to force herself to gather her strength, she definitely needed a moment or two to do so.