Rose Gold (c) vs Astrid Ostberg (c) - Champion vs Champion

[SuckerPunch]

Astrid's stubbornness extended to combat. The Lightweight Champion knew that continuing to bludgeon the thick-skulled woman, while satisfying, would result in a losing battle. She was confident that even concussed, this beast of a woman would still find a way to fight. Defiant till the end, her solution needed to be equal parts brutal and efficient.

Rose Gold met Astrid's eyes as she wove her legs about her head. While both women had glared at each other through the lens of their conviction, she now saw something different and more pleasing in the other woman's glance. Fear. She understood what was happening. Beastly as she was, even monsters needed to breathe!

Rose Gold's calf was positioned at the back of Astrid's neck like the blade of a guillotine. All she needed to do now was figure four her legs and drop down to the canvas and that blade would slide down its housing and off with her head! "DIE!" She screamed as she pulled her other boot off the canvas and bent her knee to seal Astrid's fate!

She hurtled towards the canvas with Astrid's face between her thighs!

But she was shocked to find that when she hit the mat, it was back first and with nothing within her constricting grasp! "Ungh!!" She rolled twice before sliding upon her belly! She pulled herself to her knees mid-skid, bracing herself through a wince as she sought to capture Astrid in her sights again!

Stubborn indeed!

[CaptainL]

Astrid was facing down certain defeat. She might have been larger, she might have been stronger, but Rose Gold's Midas Clutch was a move that had earned a reputation all its own. It had spelled disaster for many an opponent - and not even Astrid's stamina would be able to save her from having the life choked out of her lungs. On her back, with her arm caught, Astrid was vulnerable. If she didn't act now, she was practically handing Rose the victory!

In a match like this, to lose wouldn't just be a blow to Astrid's pride - it would be a black spot on her honor to know that she had let someone so deceitful and cruel win! The Norsewoman may have been looking death in the eye, but she knew the consequences were too great to falter now. At the last moment, she summoned her strength, flexing the muscles in her arms and turning to the side. Rather than scaring her into submission, Rose had only given her the motivation to go the extra mile in fighting back!

Astrid threw herself over, and, unable to brace herself against the larger woman's momentum, Rose went flying! She tumbled across the canvas before coming to a halt, leaving Astrid to lift herself up on her side. The crowd broke out into a cheer - Astrid had fought back with all her might, and now her efforts had paid off. A smile crossed her face, and she lifted an arm to form it into a bicep in a show of strength. She was reminded once again that she was here to win the match for everyone in the stands - and she was doing this for everyone who cheered her now!

Picking herself back to her feet, Astrid strode over to where Rose had fallen, glaring down at her with her hands on her hips. "I think you've had your fun," she said. "Now, it's my turn!" Astrid was going to take things back - and the crowd cheered for her once again, as she bent down to grab Rose by the legs. If the lightweight didn't stop her, she would hoist her off the mat, hooking her arms beneath her legs to spin her around and around for a Giant Swing!

[SuckerPunch]

Rose Gold was certain that her repeated attacks on Astrid's head were affecting her. And yet... The goliath woman strode towards her as if she'd only just entered the match. It was a testament to the woman's tenacity... To be able to shift from doomed to defiant in a single moment.

The smaller blonde watched Astrid approach through a single eye, the other forced closed in a wince

She was already up to her knees when Astrid got to her, but that wasn't nearly as tall as she'd needed to be. "I'm not really -into- taking turns!" Rose spat the words with a defiant look in her eyes. She pushed up to her feet, but an immediate throb in her shoulder caused her expression to sharpen and her knee to buckle!

Astrid hadn't simply rejected her submission attempt, she had thrown her across the entirety of the ring. It hadn't been meant to be an attack, but Ostberg's monstrous strength had made it into one. Rose Gold had landed hard upon her shoulder and she hadn't accounted for the damage her lithe body had absorbed.

Slender and fit, hers was the body of an acrobat. It lent itself to her graceful, dance-like transitions and her gravity-defying leaping attacks! But it lacked the protective mass of a more muscled opponent. Always the aggressor, Rose Gold rarely had to face down the fact that she was something of a glass cannon.

She hit the canvas as Astrid pulled her legs out from under her! "W-WAIT!" She knew Astrid wouldn't. Her calves were already hooked between Astrid's powerful arms. And a moment later she was airborne!

"Nnn~ AH!!"

Astrid was spinning like a top, and the momentum pulled Rose Gold off the surface of the ring as if she was on a carnival ride! The overhead lights of the arena spun as the lilliputian grappler was effortlessly controlled! It was with great effort that she brought one arm up to her head, grasping it to offer some sort of protection should Astrid choose to swing her into something! She would have liked to use both arms, but the other was outstretched, proof that the damage to her shoulder was real!

"Yaaaaah!!!~" She screamed, helpless and uncertain when the spinning would stop! It was making her dizzy and turning her stomach! But as disorienting as the rotations were, it was the terrible anticipation of how horrible the eventual landing would be that truly shook her!

[CaptainL]

Astrid should have known it already. No matter how much she admonished Rose, no matter how much she tried to take back control for herself, the lightweight champion was never going to agree to her plan. She was going to fight everything Astrid met her with even to the end. But that didn't matter to Astrid. If Rose wanted to fight it like that, she just had to go the extra mile to make sure that when she was brought down, she would stay down. She rolled her eyes and scoffed as Rose barked back at her in defiance. But Astrid wouldn't stop at letting her words do the talking - no, she had to back them with her actions. And in that regard, she already had a trick up her sleeve!

Picking Rose up by the legs, Astrid threw herself around and around in an arc, swinging Rose with each turn she took! She held her head to the sky, looking out toward the crowd with a smile - and with each revolution Rose made, the fans cheered louder and louder at the thought of Astrid putting her fellow champion in her place once and for all. And Astrid, for her part, was more than happy to deliver!

At last, she let go of Rose, slinging her right into the corner. She would let the momentum of her throw drive her against the post - but Astrid wasn't done there! She quickly came running after Rose, swinging her hips out as she drew closer to land a hip attack to her gut! And if that worked, she would turn herself back around to throw a knee up into her gut before cracking a chop across her chest, laying on the punishment while she was stunned!

[SuckerPunch]

It seemed as though the spinning would never stop. The cruel physics of the giant swing tore at her like a cruel mockery of NASA training! Rose Gold's form faded into a whirl of black, pink, and gold as Astrid whipped her in an endless, disorienting arc! The momentum lifted her higher as the g-force pulled at her body! The blood rushed to her head! And her sense of time and place vanished completely, replaced instead with her desperate screaming!

Until it suddenly stopped with a big bang!

"AHH!" Rose Gold's body crashed into the top turnbuckle! Impacting against it and compressing like the husk of a car in a crash test! Her eyes were vacant and her face was twisted into a grim mask of agony as she hung, slumped and splattered against the corner!

"OOOF!!!!" Astrid's hip attack smashed her further! Bowing her body and causing the ringpost to creak as if it might snap right off!

The blow to her lithe body left her breathless and gasping! It brought her eyes back, only so that they could roll into the back of her head as she struggled to breathe! But she couldn't! There was nothing there!

So much so, that when Astrid's knee impaled her bare belly, it was a trail of saliva that was fired from her mouth rather than air!

"B-bueeggh!"

She crumpled. Her knees buckled and she begun to descend face first to the canvas! Her hands spasming as they grasped at her bruised gut!

But a slicing chop that sank so deep into her modest breasts that it struck her rib cage sent her reeling back to her feet and against the corner once more!

Drooling and dazed, she bounced off of the corner and took a step forward on unsteady feet! If Astrid didn't bar her way, she would take one more... Before collapsing face first into the canvas with a thud!

[CaptainL]

The rough landing she made against the corner post, her body crashing into the turnbuckles with enough force to shake the ropes, brought Rose's motion to a halt. But by no means was it the end of her torments - Astrid, after all, had plenty more lined up where that came from. Glowering down at the smaller champion, she stormed closer, unleashing a knee and a chop with enough force to rattle Rose from head to toe. Against an opponent of comparable size, Astrid's strikes were sure to leave a mark. Against a lightweight, they would hurt even worse!

When Astrid knocked Rose flat on her face with a chop, she folded her arms, taking a step back and giving her opponent the space to slump down into a crumpled heap on the canvas. There, she looked down at her with a glower. As her eyes focused in on Rose, all the memories of what she'd done came bubbling back to the surface - how she had tormented and humiliated those weaker than her with no mercy; how she taunted everyone with the belt while never having won it by right of strength herself. Just thinking of everything Rose had done stoked the fires in Astrid's heart, and her muscles went tense as she let out a snort through her nose like a bull preparing to charge. This, she thought, was why Astrid was fighting the way she was. This was why she couldn't hold back. And that desire to bring true justice to Rose was as much as a motivator to her as the cheers of anyone in the crowd!

Astrid watched as Rose took one step forward, then another. But the whole time, her expression didn't change. Her posture remained rigid, her arms crossed, and her eyes locked on Rose with a scowl. When the lightweight finally collapsed in front of her, Astrid shook her head in disgust. "Whatever I do to you now...won't even come close to what you deserve..."

Astrid was going to show Rose no mercy. She bent down to grab her by the arm, and with a shove and a roll of her shoulders backward, she moved to slam Rose down on her back in the middle of the ring - Astrid was sure she would try to sneak her way out, and she wasn't about to let her. Then, as she rose to her feet, she turned her back to Rose and leaped off the ground, throwing herself backward so that she would bring a hip drop down on her face - and then, she would stay there, rolling her weight back to hold down her shoulders for the pin!

"ONE!!"

[SuckerPunch]

Rose Gold hit the canvas face first. Her body had been moving on instinct rather than command. And now she was left face down and drooling before her much larger opponent. Astrid easily took control of her body in a way that made her unconscious mind jealous!

She whipped her around and slammed her down to the canvas face up with brazen authority. There, the world got to see Rose Gold's pretty face in a state of total disarray. Her expression was vacant and desperate at the same time. The repeated blows she'd taken in the corner had left her mind reeling. She didn't move, save for a few shudders. Her glassy eyes looked up at Astrid and they were the only thing about her that seemed to be alive. And they were filled with pleading terror!

Her silent pleas were answered by all of Astrid's weight crushing down atop her head and neck! "GUEH!" The force of the hip drop caused all but the back of the blonde's neck to shoot off the canvas! Her body jackknifing from the impact and then falling to the canvas. Still.

The referee ran over and slid into place dramatically! She lifted her hand and brought it down for the first count! Then immediately raised it again!

One of Rose Gold's hands twitched and began to lift as well... Her fingers trembling as if reaching for the sun. The second count came like a thunderclap. A crash of sound brought on a sunshower as Rose Gold's painted black eyes began to tear, smearing a black streak down her cheek.

The referee's hand lifted a third time. It held at the top of her wingspan dramatically, like the blade of a guillotine. Rose Gold's hand did the same! Her fingers grasped desperately as the ref's hand descended for the match-ending count!

[CaptainL]

Even when a good many of the fans watching in the stands hated Rose Gold and wanted nothing more than to see her get her long-awaited comeuppance, when Astrid came crashing down on top of her, more than a few winced and looked away. Astrid was no small woman, and when she was up against Rose, she only seemed that much bigger and stronger. Normally, Astrid was a giantess going up against others like her in a battle of the titans. Now, she was a giantess crushing an ant beneath her feet. And when the impact caused Rose's body to buck up from the mat with a crack, there was no question that she was feeling the full brunt of it!

A confident grin crossed Astrid's face as her body settled into place, pinning down Rose's head and shoulders. Her hips swayed from side to side to guide her into position, and in the process it caused Rose's face to grind up against her, muffling her breaths beneath her fellow champion's rear. With the dying sounds of Rose's gasps came the dimming of the threat she posed to LAW's lightweights - no, all of LAW itself - and it only made Astrid's smile wider. It only made the fans even more excited, too, as they rang out with cheers. At long last, Rose would be defeated!

Astrid saw the pleading look in Rose's eyes, but it wouldn't sway her. She had seen the lightweight's true colors - and she had no sympathy for a cheat and a bully. All she did was huff, turning her gaze back toward the cheering crowd as she rolled her hips one more time to flatten Rose's face, her toned gluteals coming down over her eyes now. "This has been a long time coming," Astrid muttered under her breath. She sank in a little deeper, letting her weight settle over the top of Rose's face to hold her down, and bending her body lower in the process. She heard the count of two, and with it came another cheer. And then, the referee's hand raised one last time. One more count. One more, and the matter would be settled. Wrongs would be righted. All would be at peace.

But mere miliseconds from when the three-count would be made, Rose's hand shot upward. It was all happening so quickly, and with so little warning, that Astrid had no time to prepare! In an instant, five curled fingers slashed straight across her face, as Rose went at her eyes! Astrid didn't know it, but in bending in lower she had only put herself into range!

At once, Astrid threw back her head and cried out in pain, her eyes watering from the blow. Instinctively she raised her hands to cover her eyes, and arched her back inward - in the process, releasing some of the pressure on her foe!

[SuckerPunch]

Rose Gold felt her nails bite into Astrid's face long before she heard her scream. She was intent on turning her painted black fingertips red as she attempted to slash furrows into the face of the Heavyweight Champion! A desperate, hissing attack that spat in the face of sportsmanship! Far from a legal attack, it could surely have led to a disqualification... If the referee hadn't been so dutifully watching her shoulders!

They popped off the canvas as the crowd chanted "3!". But the referee's fingertips lingered above the canvas, leaving it untouched... The wishes made by Astrid's fans would go ungranted... For now.

Not only had her heel attack granted her freedom, but it had thrown Astrid off balance! The black belt judoka could smell the blood in the water and stuck, viper-quick! The hand that was already upon Astrid's face slunk around the back of her head and tucked her body inward! The chaos of Astrid's sway was pulled under control and rolled forward!

If she was able to, she would suddenly shift the position of both wrestlers! Rolling them over and pressing Astrid's shoulders to the canvas with a sudden and terrifying surprise roll-up! And to make matters worse, the moment the referee slid into place to count, she threw her feet up on the ropes! Adding additional and expertly applied leverage to the tightly packed pin!

"It'll never come! YOU HEAR ME! NEVER!" She shrieked down at Astrid! Their faces were near enough to one another for some of Rose Gold's wet mascara to dot Astrid's cheek!

[CaptainL]

Astrid had been just within reach of defeating Rose, at last putting the lightweight's reign of terror to an end. At last, justice would be served. But right at the very last moment, that chance had been snatched out of her fingers. Just as the referee's hand was coming down for the three-count, Rose lashed out - and Astrid's face was right in the path of her nails, as she received a painful rake across the eyes!

Astrid was shaken in an instant. Her back bent into an arc, and she bellowed like a bull as she reeled in pain. Suddenly, she couldn't see; her vision had suddenly gone blurred, the world passing by around her in indistinct swirls of light and color. She could hear the count of three, but no bell behind it - and mere seconds later came a great uproar of boos and jeers and drumming of feet against the floor. The fans weren't about to show Rose any mercy - they had deprived Astrid of the victory they had long awaited, and it seemed as though if things like this kept up, LAW would have a riot on their hands!

None of this, of course, slowed Rose down one bit. Already, she was preparing her next move - and the moment she felt Astrid lean forward, letting some pressure off of her, she saw her chance to strike! The discipline Rose had trained under was all about using the leverage of one's opponent's weight and momentum, and now, she had the perfect opportunity to topple her foe. In a matter of seconds, Astrid was upside down, her shoulders pressed to the mat and Rose atop her. She barely had any time to process what had happened to her before her jaw dropped open in a gasp and her eyes went wide, hearing the call of the referee count a pin once again - this time, in Rose's favor! "One!"

Astrid's shock, however, would soon change to another emotion entirely - pure, unrestrained rage. Her eyes narrowed into a hateful stare as Rose shouted down at her, and her teeth clenched into a grimace. Rose wasn't content with merely depriving Astrid of a well-earned victory through a cheap trick; no, she was going to mock her and rub it in in the process! She had no sense of sportsmanship or proper conduct; for her, everything was about proving a point, and that point was her own superiority. In short, Rose Gold was everything that Astrid detested. And it was time the Norwegian showed her what she thought of her.

With the difference in size between Astrid and Rose, it would have been no trouble at all for Astrid to kick out of the pin Rose had brought her into. However, Astrid wasn't just out to escape. She, too, had a point to prove. As she and Rose locked eyes, face to face, her head suddenly swung forward, looking to slam her skull into Rose's for a tooth-rattling headbutt!