Nerissa Labong vs Alice Gaster

[winner3]

Double or Nothing Tourney Loser's Bracket - Round 1!
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 the face Aphrodite in the next round. The loser of the match will be eliminated from the tournament.

[skip-stop]

“Fucking shit...” Nerissa said, throwing her head back.

Sitting alone in the locker room, she tried to figure out for what sins everything that has been happening to her lately has fallen on her head. Yes, she was definitely not the holiest person in the world, but even she felt that all the recent events were too much. The Native American woman closed her eyes, trying to calm her mind somehow. However... she did not succeed in this.

She didn't want to participate in this tournament at all. Her manager, Victoria, signed her up for the event without asking her. Because of this, they had a big fight and since then Nerissa has not seen the Englishwoman. Unable to opt out, she tried to focus on the fact that it was just her job and that she just had to do what she usually did best. Kicking ass.

And then she lost in the first match.

To a woman she just couldn't lose to.

Nerissa couldn't concentrate on the match, her thoughts were still very far from the ring that day. She made a lot of mistakes and it led her to such a sad result. She had never lost two matches in a row in her life. But it turned out that you shouldn't think that it couldn't get any worse. When she found out who her next opponent would be, she wanted to smash her own head against the wall.

“Why the fuck does it have to be her?” She asked a rhetorical question in the void.

It wasn't even that they had met before. It wasn't that they had come together in one of the bloodiest and most violent matches of recent years. The fact was that of all the people, her next opponent was that woman's sister. Nerissa barely found the strength to suppress the urge to start tearing her own hair out when she found out that she would have to fight Alice Gaster, the sister of the woman who had caused her life to crumble like a sand castle right now.

"Fuck!!!" Nerissa cursed once again, glancing at the clock on the wall.

Having absolutely no desire, she left the locker room and headed down the long corridor. She only stopped when she reached the waiting room. She really tried to do her best to focus on the match, but she couldn't help herself. All her thoughts were very far away again, about as far away as her good mood.

Entrance Music

Attire

When her music started, Nerissa walked to the top of the ramp for the second time without her signature entrance. Yes, the arena was filled with her dynamic music, but it wasn't like the Nerissa the audience knew. Last time, they thought it was just some kind of mistake, because the lights didn't go out, and Nerissa didn't have her Pride flag on her shoulders. This time, they realized that this was not an accident, but a pattern.

Not wanting to smile, Nerissa headed for the ring. She had to make an effort every second to concentrate at least a little. It was terribly exhausting. After rolling under the bottom rope, she went to the center of the ring and just waved sparingly to the audience before heading to her corner. They definitely didn't like it, but she didn't care. Stopping and crossing her arms under her chest, she just started waiting for her opponent.

[Vc0m]

"Fuck...damnit...shit..."

It was bad enough to end up in the Loser's Bracket. Alice was still stunned at the sudden upset loss at the hands of Sammi DeFoe, angry at herself for being so unceremoniously dumped into the much, MUCH harder path on her way to win the tournament. That alone was bad enough...

...but who she was meeting there made the situation even more complicated.

After Clara's and Nerissa's third match, one that she realized was a bad idea even while black-out drunk, there was...a ton of unresolved tension between the two. Clara would be coy about the situation, casually mentioning that the feud was over...with a look on her face saying something was definitely wrong. And rewatching the match, she could almost see Nerissa being...passive at early goings of the match, barely recognizing the woman who left her a bloodied mess at Apex.

As Alice sat backstage, still thinking about the complicated history between both Gaster sisters and Nerissa, a worker would pass Alice by, with a quick: "3 minutes" message letting her know to head to Gorilla position. Alice shook her head off her thoughts. Whatever was happening between Nerissa and Clara didn't concern her. She wanted to win this tournament, and whether or not Nerissa brought her best or not, she was moving on...

Attire

Entrance theme

https://youtu.be/jynTNYSKNuk?si=QRfJyjaoXZASCJcc

Alice made her way down the ramp to her theme tune, still maintaining the same level of excitement as in the opening round, as she lifted her kendo stick into the air to crowd's cheers, before making her way up to the apron, shouting: "LET'S FUCKING GO!!!" into the crowd, before hopping over the ropes to strike one final pose with her kendo stick as her theme would quiet down, throwing the stick at the ref to get it to the outside

For her entrance, Alice almost forgot about all the drama happening with her opponent. Seeing Nerissa again, however, made parts of her worries resurface. For now, she decided to not push the issue. Right now, the tournament was a priority...though it didn't mean she couldn't be polite to her rival:

"What's up, asshole?" she'd say with a smile...

[skip-stop]

When her rival's music started, Nerissa closed her eyes and took several deep breaths in a row. In another situation, she would have been happy to meet Alice to kick her ass again, but now... after learning that this particular woman would be her next opponent in this fucking tournament, she tried to do everything possible to at least mentally separate Alice from the woman who completely took over her mind. Well... it's time to check if Nerissa managed to do it.

When Alice reached the ring, the Echidna slowly opened her eyes and looked at the brunette. And as soon as she did, she had to make every effort not to look away, because even if only for a moment, it seemed to her that in Alice's place was her sister. Nerissa gritted her teeth, trying to force her mind away from these thoughts.

“They're not even siblings... don't think about her... focus on the match...”

She tried to give herself orders in her head, but even when Alice's music ended, she couldn't find the strength to concentrate. There were so many thoughts in her head that it even caused a slight headache. Damn... what is she even doing here?.. She wasn't going to participate in this tournament.… it's all Victoria's fault, who in her naivety thought it would help the Echidna.…

As much as she wanted to stay in her corner, Nerissa pushed off the turnbuckles and headed forward. Once in the center of the ring, she took another deep breath and only then found the strength to look Alice in the eye. Yes... as she expected... just like in her sister's case, there wasn't a drop of doubt or anything like that in Alice's eyes.

Nerissa seemed to be the only woman in this federation who had recently been overwhelmed by emotions that prevented her from fighting normally. It made her feel like an idiot, but in truth, she didn't care at all. When Alice greeted the Echidna in the manner typical of this brunette, Nerissa could not respond in kind, instead she just sighed heavily.

“Alice, listen, I...” Nerissa said, scratching her head slightly in embarrassment before she realized she shouldn't say anything right now. “Just let's get this over quickly...”

The Echidna held out her right hand, offering Alice a handshake. Despite everything, Alice was one of the few people she genuinely respected, so even despite everything that was going on in the soul of the Native American woman right now, she couldn't help but show sports respect for the brunette.

However, regardless of whether Alice would have accepted the handshake or not, Nerissa then intended to take a few steps back in order to take her fighting stance. She was honest with herself and she was fully aware that she was far from in the best shape, both physically and mentally. She could only hope that the brunette wouldn't hate her if she couldn't give her the decent match she deserved.

[Vc0m]

Even though Alice tried the "casual" approach, she could tell Nerissa wasn't receptive. She wasn't looking at her with even a semblance of the same fire as she did a few short years ago at APEX. It was almost like...Nerissa wasn't seeing her. It's like she was seeing someone else in her place...and Alice could guess who it was.

Still, Alice kept a confident front on. She wasn't great at hiding her emotions, but she tried to keep a snide grin on her face...because it was genuine. Even if Nerissa wasn't fully motivated for this match, Alice wanted a rematch against her. As much as she didn't force her to do this, she was here now for this tournament. Sure, forfeiting was a valid response...but she imagined Nerissa still had too much pride to throw in the towel on a fight, even if it was likely her manager who signed her up for it.

Nerissa opened her mouth once Alice's song quiet down...before trying to get away from a conversation.

Alice nodded...and as selfish as it was, she was happy about it. This was something Clara and Nerissa had to solve themselves. For now, Alice wanted to focus on not being thrown out of a tournament entirely. Still, Alice would return Nerissa her handshake, having a lot of respect for the Native American woman...

With both competitors getting "pleasantries" out of the way, the ref would check both women's readiness...before calling for the bell!

DING DING DING!

Deciding to try and "wake up" Nerissa into the fight, Alice would attempt to rush her rival, running at her as she aimed a wild hook with her right fist!

[skip-stop]

Know what is the biggest problem when you try not to think about anything? When you try not to think about anything, you think that you should not think about anything. It was a paradox, but it was the truth. That's exactly the situation Nerissa found herself in. After she shook hands with her rival, she tried to do everything in her power to put everything out of her mind until the very last thought.

But she kept repeating “don't think about anything” in her head so often that she hadn't noticed how fixated she was on that thought. She didn't even notice that the referee had asked her if she was ready. After receiving no response from Nerissa, the striped shirt slightly rolled her eyes and then waved her hand, giving the match an official start.

When the bell sounded, it brought the Echidna to her senses, but unfortunately it was too late. Unlike the Native American woman, Alice wasted no time. Swiftly closing the distance, she threw a right hook that slammed into Nerissa's left cheek without hindrance.

“Guuummmhhhh!!!”

Which punch is the most dangerous? The one you're not ready for. Nerissa was definitely not ready. The missed punch caused the bell to ring again, but this time only in the Echidna's head. The force of this punch made her involuntarily stagger aside, at the same time she was trying to get rid of that damn groggy state.