In A Mirror, Darkly - Clara Gaster v. Brooke Betancourt

[FreestylePoet]

After precious seconds spent catching her breath, Brooke was finally able to take in her immediate surroundings. However, that included noticing Clara sitting beside her and taking up her arm! "Huh -- W-what are you...?"

"Aaah!" She screamed as the cross armbar was locked in! Her arm was forced flush-straight, and the muscles in her shoulder felt both impossibly tight and on the verge of pulling loose! "Please, no...!" Brooke begged pathetically -- not quite a submission, but the ring mics would surely pick up her mewling.

All the while, Brooke was rolling and rocking in a desperate attempt to earn some comfort from the pain! One of her flexible legs flicked out, swinging wildly at what could, at best, only really be Clara's outer shoulder. The heel of the other leg bounced up and down on the canvas, as some part of her knew that she should be trying to kick up and bridge or roll over. Nonetheless, there was some mental block there for her, one preventing her from doing what she'd been trained to do.

[Vc0m]

Clara could hear Brooke's painful cries and begs...but she had to keep the hold in. She was fighting a former challenger for the lightweight belt. Mental block or not, she was not going to take her opponent easy. That would've been disrespecting Brooke, in her mind.

Brooke continued to resist the hold, thrashing about as the Brit maintained a firm grip on her arm...

[FreestylePoet]

"Aaugh! S-Stop it!" Brooke continued to fiddle between attempting to escape and flailing about aimlessly. But then, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Over the past few months, it had become painfully obvious to Brooke that she was way in over her head. Not just here and now, wrestling one of the elite fighters in this place, but in LAW as a whole. The thought disheartened her, but... She thought back to her friends and teammates. The ones she trained with, the ones she started her new life with.

When she opened them, her writhing and rolling had become far more controlled. Strategic, rhythmic, and targeted, each squirm meant to loosen Clara's grip slightly. To much of the crowd, it must have looked like facing such a committed pillar of the Lightweight Division had finally inspired Brooke to fight. That was true to some degree -- after all, pain in one's shoulder was strong motivation -- but it was more like her training was finally kicking in.

Finally, she planted her feet on the canvas and bridged up as high as she could -- which, given her model-like flexibility, was quite far! Where most wrestlers wouldn't have the core strength necessary to arch their back so high, Brooke did so quite easily! And with Clara's grip hopefully loosened a bit, Brooke hoped to kick off the canvas and flip the both of them over!

[Vc0m]

Finally, Brooke started to work towards loosening the hold. Clara attempted to keep a firm grip on her rival's arm, but soon enough, Brooke started to exhibit quality defence to the hold, managing to bridge herself, and generate enough momentum to turn both women onto the fronts!

Part of Clara was happy. She managed to motivate Brooke enough to stop feeling like a failure, and got them to fight on an even footing for the match. The other part was completely focused on trying to beat the brunette going forward!

Quickly, Clara tried to retreat, but Brooke had a chance for counter offence towards the Shadow Lord if she were to give chase!

[FreestylePoet]

Brooke flipped the pair of them over, allowing her to escape the armbar! She locked her eyes with Clara for just a moment, and if she looked closely, the veteran would find a contradictory cocktail of focus, doubt, determination, and fear staring back at her. But that moment was just that, and just as quickly as it had come, the match was back on.

Clara scrabbled back, and Brooke surged forward in response. Her arm lashed out towards her opponent's wrist. If she was able to grab onto it, Brooke would tug Clara right back in and turn around to put the Brit on her back! The setup was a classic one, known far and wide to everyone from combat sports aficionados to those who, like Brooke, merely took basic self defense classes.

She leaned forward, hoisting Clara up onto her upper back, then took a lunging step! The result, if Clara didn't counter it: A judo throw, simple but effective, that would turn her opponent's world upside down and send her sprawling back-first onto the canvas!

[Vc0m]

As Clara tried to escape Brooke, while she herself was confused over her own actions, the brunette would manage to act quickly as Clara tried to retreat, grabbing her hand to pull the Brit towards her...

...and successfully using her's and Clara's momentum to Judo Throw Clara onto her back!

"MGH!!!"

With the sharp pain in her back, Clara tried to quickly roll away, dreading potential follow up from now awakened Brooke!

[FreestylePoet]

"Hyaaah!" Brooke's judo throw was successful, sending Clara flying back-first onto the canvas! One of the most simple moves in the book, used to put one of LAW's most well-respected talents on her back foot! Now the advantage belonged to Brooke, and all she had to do was press it.

...But Clara, it seemed, wasn't just gonna lay around and let her do that! The move had hardly stunned her, much less leveled her, so she was able to start rolling away from the Downrange Diva. But in a moment, Brooke was upon her, hopping onto her back with urgency! If she managed to sit astride the former Shadow Lord, Brooke would grab both of her thighs, stand up, and lean back for a Boston Crab!

[Vc0m]

Brooke would quickly chase the Shadow Lord and sit down on Clara mid roll, grabbing her legs as she bent them and trapped her in a firm Boston Crab!

"Auuugh!!!"

Clara, groaning and moaning in pain, would try and make her way to the ropes for a break to escape the hold...but then, she would attempt something else instead. Trying to escape the hold without a break, she would try and grab at Brooke's legs, trying to grab the brunette's leg from under her to topple her!

[FreestylePoet]

Brooke continued to bend her opponent in half as best she could, ratcheting up the pain on her legs! But she had to be on her guard. Her current advantage had apparated out of thin air. The last thing she wanted to do was give it up to something as routine as a rope break. Amateurishly trained eyes roved over Clara's C-shaped form, watching for any sign of a wily escape.

Just as she expected, Brooke's opponent started crawling towards the ropes! Brooke sauntered backwards, maintaining the leverage of her hold while being wary not to let her too close to safety.

Suddenly, one cautious step backwards was met with a grasp of the Brit's hand! Clara's movements towards the side of the ring were just a ruse, it seemed, and it worked! The ring veteran yanked hard at Brooke's leg, sweeping it out from under her! "Waaa~!" She squealed, helpless to do anything but watch the canvas come up to meet her!

She faceplanted with a dull thud. Pain and heat alike arose in her face as the crowd oohed at Clara's ingenious trick and laughed at the rookie's naive misfortune. With her offensive thwarted and her spirit disheartened, Brooke pushed up off the mat, hoping against hope that she wouldn't find Clara prepared to pounce back upon her!

[Vc0m]

With Clara's counter working (and some people in the crowd sending mean laughs towards Brooke), the Brit would be on her feet quicker than the brunette, as she swiftly sneaked around her rival's back, trying to take her for a ride!

Clara would seize her rival from behind with a Waistlock, before lifting her up and over herself for a German Suplex! If successful, Clara would try to pin her rival off the bridge for the move!