Sheila Chihara vs. Louise Vandenbroeck [D]

[CaptainL]

In all fairness to Lousie, Sheila was only beginning to branch out of the basic moves herself. As a Young Lioness her training had focused on rudimentary strikes and holds, and though she had the chance to experiment more and more with her growing experience, the sort of offense Louise met her with was enough to meet her on her level. The stomp had knocked her winded, and she was still collecting her thoughts after having the breath stomped out of her lungs. The armbar, too, was enough to make Sheila cry out in pain, feeling the joints of her arm and shoulder stretched to their limits against the force Louise exerted. But one thing Sheila had on her side was her sheer stubbornness. Even when Louise thought she had her locked down, even when she thought she could make her tap, the Australian was too hard-headed to let it get to her!

Even as Louise tightened the pressure on the hold, ripping another scream from Sheila's lungs as she arched her back against the building pressure, the rookie kept up her efforts to resist. She threw her body from side to side, and with each inch she moved, she could feel Louise's hand slipping further and further. It caused Sheila no shortage of pain in the process, and she would no doubt feel that in her arm the next morning. But there was no time to worry about that now. Sheila saw how Louise's grip had loosened, and it gave her hope that with a few inches more, she could be free!

It didn't matter if Louise was making a rookie mistake or not, as Sheila was too inexperienced herself to comment on that. What she did see was that she had a chance, and she was ready to take it. Hoping that her opponent's grip was loose enough, Sheila rolled forward, attempting to swing herself over Louise's legs and flip the two of them over so that Louise would land on her stomach as she pulled her arm free!

[FreestylePoet]

It was clear by now that Louise was, at the very least, the far superior athlete. Even if she was a few years from being a top-flight sportswoman, she still kept in shape well enough. More than that, she also knew how to keep herself in optimal fitness for high-level competitive outings. So even though her technique needed quite a bit of work, it still must have been hell to be put through her armbar. At least for her part, Sheila seemed to think so, based on how she was writhing and groaning beneath Louise's grasp.

"RRGH!" She grunted once more, putting as much as she could into cranking up the tension in this hold! "Pannenkoek! Just... tap!" But her efforts weren't to be sustained for long, as Sheila continued to squirm around. Eventually, once Louise's poor technique and Sheila's motions had loosened the hold enough, the Australian powered herself up and over Louise's powerful legs!

"Yah!" She yelped in a rather uncharacteristically cute manner! Like a dog who had suddenly lost her footing. And even more like said unfortunate animal, she flopped limply onto her stomach. "Oof-!" Unused to such a springy surface, Louise bounced upon the mat a few times, uselessly pressing her palms against the quivering surface of the ring. Still, she was nothing if not agile, even after a fall such as this one. Whatever Sheila had planned next, she would have to do it quick, lest she find herself facing a risen and angry Louise Vandenbroeck!

[CaptainL]

Louise had her hold locked in good, and even when a more experienced wrestler would easily be able to point out the holes in her technique, such nuances were lost on a rookie like Sheila. To her, Louise was still applying a considerable amount of force to her arm and shoulder, and it was doing her no favors! With each minute the Scarlet Streak torqued on her arm, Sheila moaned from the pain, her body twisting and turning and her eyes going blurry with tears. Each inch she moved sent another shudder down her spine as her joints and muscles were further compressed, putting more strain on the angle her arm was held to her body.

But Sheila wasn't just ignorant. She was also stubborn - and a little bit of pain wasn't going to hold her back! She kept wriggling and writhing, working Louise's grip down her arm inch by inch, until the former basketball player's hand was wrapped around her wrist. And at that point, Sheila was able to roll herself over, bringing Louise with her in the process!

As her face dropped into the canvas, Louise found herself jostled, and her grip on Sheila's arm went slack. At last, the Australian pulled free and rolled away from her, rubbing at her shoulder to dull the aches left in her arm. But even if it still hurt, now Louise was down - and that meant Sheila had her chance! She straightened herself back to her feet with a smile, finding newfound energy in her freedom. She was ready to put that to good use!

Now that Louise was on her stomach, she would be vulnerable to one of Sheila's aerial moves. That just meant the Young Lioness needed to strike quickly before she had time to right herself! She took off for the ropes, where she hopped up onto the middle rope and kicked off of it to throw herself through the air. There, she would move to land on top of Louise with a senton!

[FreestylePoet]

If any commentators or wrestling historians ever looked back at this match, they would be able to pick out a number of technical errors on both wrestlers' parts. The latest of which was Louise's ill-fated effort to steady herself on the ground, only to find it far less stable than the hardwood and asphalt that she was used to! With her palms flat on the canvas, Louise pressed down firmly to catch herself, which caused the ring floor to wobble even more!

In this way, Louise's reflexes lost her precious moments in a sport where the margins were won and lost in split seconds! Eventually, she managed to stabilize and right herself, flipping back around to face Sheila. But it was too late -- her opponent had already launched into the air. "What're you-?!" Her wide-eyed confusion was interrupted the airborne Australian -- and then by a rough landing, right on top of her!

"GAH!" Once more, the canvas shook. This time, Louise was as steady as she could be, courtesy of having just been flattened against the mat. Even as Sheila bounced off of her, Louise made no move to leave the mat. Instead, she rolled to her side, clutching her injured torso. Her legs extended as her whole body winced at the contact, only for her knees to tuck themselves back in, completing Louise's withdrawal into a ball.

"Nnrgh..."

[CaptainL]

Louise might have had a mind for high-flying moves herself, but the fact couldn't be denied that she was used to them being used on a basketball court, not in a wrestling ring. She found the mat beneath her had more give than she was expecting, and she was still struggling to right herself while Sheila took to the ropes. By the time she looked up, the Young Lioness had already kicked through the air, hurling herself like a missile to land on Louise with her lower back! As the two collided, the ring shook beneath the impact, leaving Louise dizzied as she was thrown to her back. Sheila, meanwhile, had the experience to recover far quicker; even if she was used to using a trampoline as her makeshift ring, at least that was closer!

The Australian girl rolled over onto her hands and knees, facing the downed Louise with a chuckle. She tilted her head to her and smiled as warmly and as cheerfully as though this was little more than some playful roughhousing between friends. "That!~" Sheila giggled in response to Louise's question. But the Scarlet Streak wasn't interested in facing her, and she rolled to her side, still nursing herself from the blow.

Sheila was undeterred, however. "Hey, where're you going?" she teased, leaning in closer to Louise. She reached out to try and grab at her, looking to pull her onto her back once again; if that worked, Sheila would drape herself on top of her shoulders, laying across her to attempt a crossbody pin!

[FreestylePoet]

An ache radiated from Louise's core, and she clutched the skin just above in a foolhardy attempt to soothe it away. Unfortunately, Sheila did not seem to want to give Louise that chance. She chirped teasingly at Louise, rolled the Nederlander onto her back, and laid across the top of her shoulders for a pin. All were moves that would ordinarily draw her ire. This time, though, they were met only by a wounded growl, as Louise could hardly find the muster to fight against them.

"One!"

This was what she wanted, after all. To get this match over with, hand Sheila Julie's dumb stickers, and go back to her life. She had no real love for wrestling, not even close. She fought because she was already here, and because she'd rather not have let Sheila wail on her the whole time. But now the Aussie was here, atop her, three mere beats away from ending Louise's debut bout. Which was fine, at the end of the day.

"Two!"

Wrestling was just a means to an end, and she'd done well enough for herself tonight. Her impressive athleticism had been displayed throughout the match, even when she wasn't on the offensive. And when she was, she'd proven herself to be a fast learner. Even here at the beginning of her career, she'd had just enough knowledge of this new sport to create an interesting mix with her speed and strength. Nobody could look at this match and not be impressed with this first outing of hers.

Even if she lost to a Young Lioness.

"Thr-"

"RRAH!" Just then, Louise curled her legs up and kicked out in an attempt to break the pin! Her kick-out attempt went against every rational thought in her brain, but here she was. Her powerful legs fired up and out as if they had been shot out of a cannon! At the same time, her arms flexed and shoved at Sheila, trying to at least shake the young Australian off of her with the momentum of her kick-out.

With all the power of an elite basketball player using their leapers' legs to kip up, Louise fought her way to a standing position. With a quick glance to the referee to confirm that it had only been a two-count, she was off to the races, bounding off towards the ropes. She didn't even know what she was doing herself -- it was as if her body was moving on its own! Louise bounced off the ropes, running towards a hopefully-still-floored Sheila before jump-sliding in for a high-speed elbow drop!

[CaptainL]

She was actually doing it! She could hardly believe it, but it was happening! Sheila's face lit up with a grin as she rolled into place on top of her opponent, and she folded her legs in at the knees, kicking playfully at the air while she held her chin in her hands at the other end of Louise's shoulders. It looked more like she was listening to music in bed than pinning her opponent in a wrestling match, but then again, to Sheila she might as well have been. After all, she was moments away from winning her first match against a main roster member, and before she had even graduated the Young Lioness program at that! It was exactly the kind of story she was sure would propel her to levels of fame she could hardly have conceived of. And it was only seconds away.

Each time the ref counted, Sheila's smile grew wider and wider. She began to fidget anxiously, knowing that every time the official's hand hit the mat she was one second closer to her first big win. But just then...Louise kicked out, just seconds away from the pin!

Sheila's jaw dropped in shock, her eyes going wide as she was catapulted off of Louise. As the white-haired girl's legs kicked up, Sheila went tumbling aside, leaving her on her stomach and panting for air as she shook the cobwebs out of her head. That gave her opponent enough time to scramble to her feet, running for the ropes and bouncing against them to fuel her forward momentum. Louise might have been new to wrestling, but she certainly seemed to be a fast learner!

Hearing the fans call out to her with commands to look behind her, Sheila finally looked up - seeing her opponent throwing herself through the air, her elbow poised to strike! Her jaw dropped, and she let out a yelp as she rolled onto her side. But at the same time, Sheila's survival instincts kicked in. Just as it was an impulse that had driven Louise to take off, so too did Sheila's next move come to her like a reflex - as she swung her leg out in front of her to let Louise fly into it or a counter!

[FreestylePoet]

Louise was on Sheila in a flash, sprinting towards her with quick, powerful strides. The Scarlet Streak went low, crouching before half-hopping, half-sliding towards her foe for an elbow drop, fired off at mach speeds! Her heart raced just as fast as she did, fueled by a once-familiar cocktail. Adrenaline surged through her veins, muffling all but a few choice sights and sounds: Her breath. The crowd. Sheila. And, perhaps, victory.

For this brief moment in time, Louise was an athlete again. That killer instinct, that "clutch" factor that so many competitors aspired to have, was on full display for but a split second. Her mind and body were pushed past their limits, dazzling the audience with a thrilling display of speed and skill! But it would soon come crashing down -- literally -- due to one rookie mistake on Louise's part:

She'd jumped too high.

Her slide was more like a dive, and rather than slam her elbow into Sheila with all the force of her sprint, she'd leapt into the air as if performing a more traditional elbow drop. In the momentary rush of being thrust back into crunch time, Louise had miscalculated just how much force to send through her legs. Her physical prowess now worked against her, as her legs brought her to stunning heights! The mistake allowed Sheila ample time to raise and aim her leg -- right at Louise's falling body!

"NGYUHH!" Beads of sweat sprayed from her skin and hair as her head flew back in pain. The last few feet of her trip down became a spiraling tumble, and she all but splattered unceremoniously onto the canvas. The blow was stunning and disorienting, though her fall amplified these effects -- and dampened her adrenaline rush. "What... was that...?" she muttered to herself as she struggled to rise to her feet.

Groggy, she flopped onto her front. A shaky palm was the first to plant itself, followed by a pair of tucked-in knees. So began Louise's arduous task of righting herself...

[CaptainL]

Louise's leap off the ropes had been a spectacular and eye-catching one. The altitude the Scarlet Streak was capable of achieving won her a cheer from the fans as her silhouette fell before the overhead lights. She seemed to defy gravity in the way she moved, and by all accounts, descending from such a height with the velocity with which she did, the elbow drop she had readied should have been enough to take Sheila out. Even the Australian herself had to look up at her with widened eyes when she saw what was about to happen to her.

But Sheila had time - however brief of split-seconds it might have been - in which she could react. And when that realization hit her, she knew she had to make use of it! Her leg kicked up in the air as though it was a reflex, and just seconds before Louise struck her, she came down on the sole of Sheila's boot! A loud thwack rang through the air as she tumbled to the side, and Sheila sat herself back up, greeting a few cheering fans with a wave and a grin on her face. She had proven that even against such odds, even in the face of danger, she wouldn't let herself be intimidated into backing down. She would stop at nothing to win!

In fact, now that Louise had been downed, Sheila knew it was her time to shine. Finding newfound strength in the knowledge she could turn this match around, she hopped straight up to her feet, her smile growing with confidence. Louise had gone to great heights - literally and figuratively - in the name of stopping Sheila. Now, the Young Lioness knew that if there was any time to put an end to this match, it would be now, before Louise could get back up to correct her past mistakes. And if there was one thing Sheila learned from her years of backyard wrestling, it was that one couldn't just end a match on a flat note. If your opponent went big, you had to go bigger, and give everyone a moment worth remembering! If she was going to end this match, she had to do it right!

Running toward the ropes on the other side of the ring, Sheila jumped up on them, pumping her fists in the air to start up a cheer that was soon echoed from the stands. Then, she turned to face Louise. If the former basketball player was still getting up, Sheila would spring herself toward her - as she descended, she aimed to throw her legs around her shoulders at the moment her opponent righted herself. If that worked, she would roll herself backward to slam Louise's head into the mat with a poisonrana - in this case, her finishing move, the Bear Drop!

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP7Y4OF6HXk

[FreestylePoet]

The kick was a bucket of cold water for Louise, instantly flushing every ounce of adrenaline that was just coursing through her veins. The resulting crash sent her vision swimming. More than that, the impact itself rang Louise's ears and spun her world. Never before had she been struck so hard, and it showed! "Gaah... Haah..." She planted a single palm on the ground, almost by reflex. Some part of her knew that she needed to get up, but that part was a copilot at best.

"Wha-" Louise was about halfway to her feet when she felt a weight bear itself down on her. Far too out of it to notice Sheila's legs wrap themselves upon her shoulders, Louise groggily glanced up. Even then, it took a moment for her vision to focus on the tanned blur above her. The grinning face of Sheila Chihara was the last thing Louise saw before her world flipped upside down!

"Yaaah!" She yelped as Sheila rolled backwards, sending Louise's head right into the canvas! The mat thudded, and the brief rattle to her brain caused her limbs to flail wildly into the air. Then Louise finished flopping on the ground, looking up at the bright stage lights above. Well and truly out of it!