Nashi Dragneel vs Lacey Whitman

[winner3]

Double or Nothing Tourney Opening Round Match
Victory to be awarded via Pinfall, Submission, Knockout, Disqualification, or Ring Out (going over the top rope with both feet hitting the floor). The winner of the match will advance to take on Ichika Rei in Round 2. The loser of the match will compete in the loser's bracket.

[CaptainL]

This was a big night for Lacey. Sure, it was far from the first time she was in the ring, nor was it the first time she'd be competing for LAW. But no matter how important any of her prior matches might have been, nothing could compare to what she faced tonight. Tonight, she would be taking part in the Double or Nothing tournament - a tournament where she stood to win more money than she had ever seen in her life, if she could make it through to the end. It would be a daunting task, to be sure - but then, Lacey felt like, up to this point, her life had been a string of disappointment after disappointment, springing from one failed job to another. Wrestling seemed like it was lasting her decently enough, at least - and if she could pull through now, she would never have to worry about anything ever again! If she could win this tournament, that would be her light at the end of the tunnel. That would make it all worth it!

As she took a deep breath, the green-haired girl sat up straighter and looked up at the sky. There was no use in dwelling on negativity any more, she told herself. She had a bright future to look forward to, and one to take into her own hands! She had to be ready for it!

"Coming first to the ring, from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma! Standing at 5'6, weighing 145 pounds, Everybody's Best Friend, LACEY! WHITMAAAAN!!"

Spoiler

Music

By the time Lacey came through the curtains, there was no sign of the worries she had felt backstage a moment before. Her head was held high with a grin as she held her hands to the sky, calling out a cheer of "HIIIIII, EVERYBODY!!" before she ran down the aisle, slapping high-fives and pulling a few young fans in for a hug. As she came to the apron, she set one foot on it and looked back one last time with a wave, then kicked up her legs and spun through the ropes as she vaulted over the middle rope and into the ring!

Once she had settled in the ring, Lacey took a moment to shake herself out, hopping up and down and shaking out her shoulders. Then, she took a microphone and faced the cameras with a wide smile. "Thanks to all of you for having me here tonight! I can't believe that I'm actually in the running to win a million dollars..." She chuckled a little as she said that - it was a thought that made her a little nervous to think about how much was on the line. "This is a really big deal for me. My family doesn't make a whole lot, and I've never really been able to hold a job before I became a wrestler...so I'm extra excited to win all of this for them! Give me plenty of cheers, okay?" She pumped a fist in the air as she settled back in the corner, hearing as the fans cheered for her energetic entrance. Still, her eyelid twitched. In spite of all the hype, there was a little bit of doubt at the back of her head. She just hoped she could win this all for her family...

[SRG]

Tonight was important for Nashi. While yes this wasn't her first rodeo and she competed in other events before like We Are LAW and came away with a win, the last time she competed in a tournament she didn't even make it to the first round so she knew she had to win this match here and now. To her the cash prize while good, she didn't really need it. The reason Nashi signed up for this tournament was a shot at redemption, all she needed was to at the very least win this match to make up for her loss last time. So there the pinkette was in her locker room putting on her gear making sure everything was in order. She slipped on her boots and shorts, strapped on her top to make sure everything felt comfortable and finished with her arm sleeves before turning to herself in the mirror. "Phew... you got this Nashi...." She let out a sigh of confidence before her door open with a backstage crew member coming in."Miss Dragneel, it's your turn to enter." "I'm coming out. Thank you sir." She spoke back to the crew member respectfully as she loosened herself out before heading out to the gorilla.

entrance theme

Spoiler

Soon the lights would go off with the screen showing flames rising with a dragon coming out and the caption reading "Nashi Dragneel." Just on que, the pinkette busted out from the gorilla with a bright smile on her face with both arms up pointing in different directions. After a moment she began to walk down the aisle high fiving fans and even stopping to take a quick pose or two before she came up to the apron. She then put one leg over the ropes and bended out to guide herself through the ropes as she walked up the turnbuckle and pointed to the crowd before hopping off to be face to face with Lacey. The pinkette turned and gestured usage of the mic before holding it up to her mouth."Hey guys thanks for coming out! She giggled waving to the crowd before putting her attention on Lacey."I'll admit I do feel bad about this. Your here to support your family while I'm here to make up for losing in the last tournament at LAW. If I win you promise their will be no hard feelings between us right?" Nashi admitted to why she competed a bit nervously as she pulled out her hand for Lacey to shake. All that was racing through the Idol's mind was hoping that Lacey didn't view her differently because of her reasons for competing and hoped they could put on a good show for the audience.

[CaptainL]

As usual, Nashi wouldn't be alone in coming to the ring. Yukino Fuyumi, her best friend, bandmate, and tag partner, had been waiting for her at the Gorilla position, and when she saw Nashi, she nodded to her with a smile before giving her a slap on the back. "I believe in you, Nashi! I know how hard you've been training for this one...so I'm eager to see it all pay off!" Yukino was well aware of how important this tournament was to Nashi, and to that end, she had been helping her prepare, sparring with her and coaching her through her training. The least she could do now was to accompany her to the ring! Yukino wasn't competing in this match herself, but she was still happy to show her support!

Spoiler

When Nashi came through the curtains, Yukino was right behind her, holding her hands high over her head. She too struck a couple of high-fives on her way down the aisle, and when she came to the ring, she hopped up onto the apron to stay in Nashi's corner, throwing a fist into the air. The crowd let out a cheer at the sight of the Idol Dragons putting on a memorable show as always - but Lacey was just as excited as any of them, as she hopped up with the sound of a gasp!

"Oh, gosh-! Nashi Dragneel!? I can hardly believe I'm in the ring with...with the Nashi Dragneel! I listen to you guys' music a lot! Even if I don't know half the words, heh..." Lacey chuckled to herself - she'd studied enough Japanese to hold a conversation in it, but she wasn't the best at it. Then, though, she stopped and cleared her throat. Lacey might have been excited, but she also couldn't forget that she had a match to win - and, as Nashi was quick to confirm, both of them had a lot riding on it. The green-haired girl nodded her head solemnly. She stepped up and took Nashi's hand, giving it a shake, and she showed her the best winning smile she could manage. "Oh yeah, of course! I'm sure that whether I win or lose, the two of us are gonna send a lot of people home happy. We really know how to put on a show!"

Deep down, though, Lacey had her hesitations. And she let out a gulp as she glanced back up at Nashi. Not only was her family counting on her, she had countless fans watching her, eager to see her win the tournament. No matter how much she looked up to Nashi, or how much she wanted this to be a friendly match they could both walk away from happy...she knew that wasn't to be. She couldn't disappoint everyone. She couldn't afford to lose this one. Even if it meant denying Nashi her chance.

*DING DING DING*

At the sound of the bell, Lacey sucked in a deep breath and sank into a stance, moving in closer to lock up with Nashi. There, she'd push and pull at her a moment, feeling out her opponent's strength. But she would be the one to strike the first blow, when she turned to throw a kick at the pink-haired girl's side!

[SRG]

As Nashi approached the gorilla who else would be there but her best friend and tag partner, Yukino Fuyumi! Seeing Yukino did give some rinneite the Idol's confidence a bit knowing that she wasn't alone in this endeavor, and it helped that Yukino did help her prepare for this tournament. "Aww thanks Yukino for showing up. I knew you would." Nashi smiled wrapping her arms around Yukino to give her bestie a hug as she got a smack on her back. "Well I wouldn't be here if you weren't such a great coach. By any chance did Carol give you advice on how to coach somebody since you seemed more Strick than usual." The pinkette added on with teasing giggle being reminded of the hours the two spent every day in preparation for this as Yukino made sure to not go easy on her during their training sessions. Nashi wasn't mad about the training they did if anything Nashi was proud Yukino did show more seriousness side during it, that she truly came out of her shell. As they broke the hug Nashi turned her attention to the ramp entrance way before turning her head back at her partner. "You ready to be my hype girl?" She giggled adding on one more thing before the duo busted out to the arena.

As the duo came out both of them managed to get the same amount of love from the fans even though it was Nashi competing and not her talented friend. Both we're on different sides of the aisle giving high fives to everyone before Nashi finally made it inside the ring but there was still one last surprise. When Yukino jumped up for a fist bump Nashi turned around to jump up balling her hand into a fist to collide with Yukino's for a mid-air fist bump getting more applause from the audience!!

Now that it was all settled Nashi turned her attention back to have her eyes peeled on Lacey as it was her turn to speak. While Nashi did hear slight mentions of Lacey, she had never seen any of her matches before. So, you could imagine her shock when Lacey turned out to be a big fan of Nashi's previous work as a seamstress. What made it even better was she too wanted to put on a good for the crowd not caring who wins or loses. It did make Nashi smile as the greenette came up and accepted her handshake showing she wouldn't try anything dirty/"Absolutley! But don't forget I intend to win so give me your best shot!" Nashi added on with a competitive smirk forming around her face as both girls went back to their respective corners. To Nashi this seemed perfect so far as this had the making of a friendly competition between two young highflyers in a match with everything on the line to the make audience cheer both girls on regardless of who wins! All of that was until the bell rang. Both girls went to meet in the center of the ring and began to interlock with each other letting their fingers lock in tightly with each other! "I must say Lacey, you're stronger than I thought but..... I won't lose that easily!" Nashi shot up a grin as she went to push forward to get the early leg up in the match until.... THWACK!! "AUGHHH!!!" Nashi let out as her body froze with her head shooting up in pain from the sudden kick to her side!!! Nashi dropped to one knee but was unable to let go of Lacey's fingers because of the tight lock up the two girls were in but one thing was certain, Lacey had the leg up now. All Nashi could do was let out pants of air as the kick went in pretty far all the while she tried to break the lockup by trying to push Lacey back hoping for a miracle!

[CaptainL]

"Uh, maybe a little...was I too harsh?" Yukino chuckled to herself, rubbing at the back of her head as she thought about how she had helped train Nashi for this match. All she knew was that there was a big tournament coming up, and that Nashi was determined to win it all - of course she was going to be in her best friend's corner to make sure she could go far! She knew how important it was to Nashi to prove herself as a star, and if she could go all the way, against this many opponents, no one would question she had a future in this company!

But Lacey was just as determined to win. She might have kept up her usual friendly demeanor in cheering Nashi on, but deep down, she knew that she was here to turn her life around and to prove that there really was a place in the world that she belonged. When she heard Nashi pledge to win, she sucked in a deep breath, and her fingers coiled tighter as her hand squeezed around the idol's own. "Right..." Lacey didn't want to hold anything against Nashi. But she really hoped she could win this.

As the match began, the two girls joined for a test of strength, with both of them taking each other's hands and pushing up against one another. Even when Lacey threw a pointed kick right at Nashi that knocked her to her knees, the pink-haired girl still wouldn't let go - she kept pushing back at Lacey, even forcing her to take a step back! At the sight of such tenacity from Nashi, the fans let out a cheer - even Lacey herself gasped at the sight. Clearly, she was dealing with a tougher opponent than she'd accounted for! "Hmph...right back at you on that one-!"

If her last strike had hit, Lacey had more where that came from! The former gymnast kicked her leg up again, this time aiming a knee at Nashi's chin to try and knock her backward! If that worked, she'd shove her away to try and roll her to her back, then run the ropes, throwing herself into the cables and bouncing back toward Nashi to try and nail her with a leg drop when she came close!

[SRG]

What started off as a simple test of strength to gage the competitor's strength soon turned into a firm knee strike to the fan favorite Idol's chest knocking the side of the girls windpipes! There Nashi was on her knees trying to break the lock up between the two but to no avail. "Come on Nashi... your not through yet, that one kick won't keep you down!" The Idol thought to herself as she gritted her teeth with determination but at the same time left herself wide open for another kick from her opponent! "UGHHHH!!!" Nashi let out as kneed her right in the chin knocking her backward as she laid down on her stomach."Pha!' She leaned her head up letting out some coughs before all of a sudden feeling Lacey rolling her onto her back."What the?" She let out in confusion as she tried to reach out and grab Lacey by her ankle but to no avail as she saw the greenette running to the ropes and coming straight back for her!

"I know what she's doing! Yukino and I spared and this was the same set up Yukino used for a leg drop... I just got to wait for just the right moment...." Nashi's eyes shot up as she realized what Lacey had in store for her and knew just how to counter her plans. All she did was wait and clench her fist ready for action. As Lacey came back and jumped for the leg drop, Nashi went to place her hands on the mat to roll herself away to dodge it! If successful, Nashi would rise up to her knees and pull her fist back only to send it straight to Lacey's chin for an uppercut!"I GOT YOU!!!" The Idol roared out as now this was her chance for a comeback!

[CaptainL]

Lacey's knee shot out and struck Nashi in the chin - and with a resounding crack, the pink-haired idol was thrown backward and into the mat! The crowd let out a cheer at the sight, and Lacey pumped a fist proudly in the air above her in celebration. She had scored a solid hit, and she was going to ride the wave of that momentum! She took off running into the ropes, bouncing back toward Nashi as she prepared to catch her with a leg drop...only for Nashi to suddenly roll out of the way at the last moment!

"W-What..?!" The former gymnast's eyes went wide in shock when she saw Nashi slip off to the side, leaving only air between her and the unforgiving canvas - but she was already in motion, and she couldn't do anything to stop it! She came down onto her outstretched leg, her teeth clenching with a grimace as she hissed through her teeth. For a moment, she stopped to rub at her leg, trying to smooth out the soreness...but Nashi was already a step ahead of her, and she would soon strike back with an uppercut aimed at Lacey's jaw!

Now, the tables had turned - and it was Lacey's turn to fly backward into the mat, as she swung backward from the momentum of the strike, letting out a cry of pain before landing on her side. She rubbed at her chin, trying to dull the pain as her teeth clenched in a wince. But she would still kick her legs in Nashi's direction, trying to keep her back to buy herself some time. If she could get Nashi to stay back, she'd roll backward before springing to her feet, leaning back against the ropes as she caught her breath - and then, going to bounce off them once again with the momentum behind her strides, throwing herself toward Nashi and kicking off the ground to hit her with a dropkick!