Rose Gold's vision swam. Astrid's head split into mirror images of itself, revolving and dissolving into one another. Her already aching thighs began to fill with fire as lactic acid built up in her muscles. Her posture was far from stable and her head felt like it was full of air. But the cloudy look in Astrid's eyes kept her grounded and focused on her task! Squeeze! Like an Anaconda constricting a deer, the Venomous Vixen just needed to squeeze!
Blood dripped onto the canvas beside Astrid's head. A steady spattering of scarlet had been marring the pastel of the mat ever since Rose Gold had mounted her prey. The effort she was putting into the squeeze upon Astrid's neck was hastening the flow of her blood, causing the stain to steadily grow. But now it wasn't just growing. It was beginning to move. The red rain began to create a line.
"N-nnn!" The images of Astrid's head aligned. And what she saw as Astrid's eyes came into focus was something she'd worked so very hard to bury! Rose Gold's determination faded- "No!" giving way to Astrid's.
The drops of blood no longer hit the mat. They now began to dot her own bare thighs!
Astrid's eyes were alive! And now it was she who was squeezing the Lightweight Champion! Her vicelike grip burrowed into the meat of the diminutive champion's thighs, surely bruising them.
"NO!" She managed to find her voice as her legs fully left the ground. Her eyes left Astrid's to lock onto the horizon. To watch it climb and climb as Astrid got to her feet, carrying her weight upon her shoulders!
"NO!!" It was all she could! Scream. She couldn't unfurl her legs. Not only were her legs tied in a knot behind Astrid's head, but her muscles were seized, locking her in place by way of her own finishing maneuver! And worse, Astrid's grip kept her from adjusting to release it! She was trapped! She'd pushed herself too far... No. She'd pushed -ASTRID- too far! She could feel her own heartbeat in her throat! Rapid with panic! Spoiler
The new position saw her injured dangling in a way that would have been piteous had it happened to any other woman. She let go of Astrid's arm, choosing cowardice over commitment! And instead used it to wrap around Astrid's head as she curled forward, clinging onto her! Her legs crossed desperately! Doing everything she could to keep Astrid from throwing her off!
But it wouldn't matter. Astrid didn't need to dislodge her...
The heavyweight could drive her into the Earth like a meteor, sending her into a personal ice age.
"No! no! Please!! no!" She plead as her painted black eyes closed tightly as she curled into a fetal ball around Astrid Ostberg's head. They welled up with tears and her body trembled in fear. She was a rabbit caught in the jaws of a great Norwegian Lion!
And just like the rabbit... She could do nothing but mewl and wait for the fangs to crush its weary bones.
The entire seating area had erupted into a fervor of cheers, drowning out everything in one continuous roar. The two champions had gone head to head, and they had utilized every weapon in their arsenal against each other, with Astrid's strength and Rose's skill colliding as they threw the utmost limits of their effort into overcoming their foes. Before the match was even over, everyone was sure it would be unforgettable. When Rose had Astrid's head ensnared in the Midas Clutch, her supporters went wild, while Astrid's booed and screamed in terror. Now, though, Astrid was fighting back - and the tables turned! The Norsewoman's fans burst into even louder cheers, excited to see her make a comeback; they jumped from their seats and flung their arms in the air. And there were just as many who were excited just to see things unfold in the ring - events that they would have thought were impossible, had they not been seeing them before their very eyes!
Despite the arena bursting with energy, though, none of it even registered for Astrid. She was lost in her focus - there was just one thing she cared about. Her heart was pounding, and she could feel the rush of blood between her ears. Her body felt heavy; her muscles were stiff and sore, and she drifted in and out of focus, each squeeze of Rose's legs around her throat causing her to let out a hoarse wheeze. But she knew Rose was panicking. She could feel the slackening of the lightweight's body as she rolled back, the rise of her hips as she jolted in place, and she could hear the yelp in her voice. Rose was beaten! Astrid had overcome her! She just needed to push herself that much further, to finally bring the match to a close, and to end her threat once and for all! She was going to have to fight against the odds, against nature itself, in order to make that happen - but now that she had seen that fear in Rose, she knew it was possible. Rose Gold could be beaten, and Astrid Ostberg would be the one to do it!!
Her fingers clenched even tighter around Rose's thighs, anchoring her in place. Her legs curled inward, pressing the soles of her boots firmly against the mat and pushing off. Her body felt like it was weighed down with a thousand tons as she tried to push past an invisible wall keeping her from her feet. She grit her teeth and hissed in pain, struggling to keep down the urge to scream - she could feel each of the muscle fibers she tore and the strain she forced into her joints. But she knew she had to keep going. All would be worth it. It would be this that would take the fearsome Rose Gold down!
At last, Astrid rose back to her feet, standing her full height in the center of the ring! The lights shone down from the ceiling, capturing the two champions entwined in an embrace too firm and too determined to break by even the strongest of force, their bodies glistening with sweat and colored by the blood running from both foreheads! The crowd cheered even louder; they knew what this meant as much as Astrid did! Rose was done! She was finished! They were about to witness history!
As the Norsewoman went on, as she pulled her higher and higher, the tension rose more and more - Astrid had her set up for a powerbomb, her spine curled backward, her fingers wrapped around Rose's legs! Rose herself broke into a panic, faced with what was sure to be her undoing! All Astrid needed was to throw her down against the ring, and, just like that, the Sinister Siren's reign of terror would be over! It was that point that Astrid was building to, everyone was sure, and that finish would come any minute!
...
Any minute...
...
...Any minute...
...
As the seconds ticked on, each one feeling like a painful eternity, and Astrid still hadn't released Rose, whispers began to go through the stands. No one had believed that Astrid could lift her up, even through the Midas Clutch, but no one could believe this, either - that she would slow to a halt at the last moment, unable to follow through! It seemed as though the perfect Hollywood finish for Rose's reign was upon them - even if her championship wasn't on the line, everyone knew her reputation could never recover from a defeat!
But just as quickly as it had come to be...it all stopped. And when everything leading to this moment had felt so perfect, when it had been what the people wanted to see but never thought they ever would...it all too felt too improbable, too impossible, too sadistically perverse, to think that it would all come crashing down.
The whispers grew even louder and more panicked as change began to set into Astrid's body. Her feet skidded across the mat, spreading further away from each other. Her back shuddered and she sunk forward, bent over by the weight of gravity. As she slumped into an arc, Rose was left dangling from her sagging head, anchored in place by her unbreakable grip. Her free arm dangled low, now swaying back and forth lifelessly in the air. No one wanted to believe what they were sure this meant.
But, eventually, the task was left to the referee to investigate. The people needed answers, and - while she might have been fearful of Rose's retribution, glancing shiftily from side to side - at some point, something had to be done.
Sucking in a breath, the official took a few steps forward to close in on Astrid. There, she took her by the hand, lifting it up, and turning it from side to side to feel for slack. Then, she let it go, leaving it to fall - and when she turned to the timekeeper, it was to give the news that caused every jaw in the arena to drop.
"Astrid is unconscious!! The match is over! The winner is ROSE GOLD!"
Rose Gold's eyes were clenched tight. "It's over..." Her lithe body would have shuddered if all her muscles hadn't already locked up tightly.
"I'm really not good enough..." The emotion that accompanied the thought wasn't despair. But rather... A strange sense of freedom. An escape from the weight of the tower of expectations she'd built around herself. Astrid was going to tear it down. She would no longer be held captive by her own self-deification. Though she would surely perish as the weight of it collapsed around her head. Buried alive by pretense and presumption. "I deserve this... Don't I?"
"So... JUST GET IT OVER WITH!" Her internal monologue broke through and erupted from her throat as she could no longer stand the stay of execution!
*Ding Ding Ding!* The ringing bell jarred the Lightweight's eyes open! And she let out a gasp as if she'd just surfaced from the bottom of the ocean!
She was dangling above the canvas. Her short hair nearly brushed the canvas... She was less than inches from its surface. Less than inches from the destruction she'd been so sure of.
Her legs unfurled and she hit the canvas in an almost mocking approximation of what had been in store for her! And from upon her back, she looked up at the face of her opponent. And flinched!
Her boots kicked and sent her scurrying out from under her, to press her back against the ropes. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she was sweating. Astrid's face was slack and her body was unmoving... She'd succumbed to the Lightweight's panicked squeeze. The blood supply to her brain had been stifled and she'd been shut off... Choked out.
But it was Astrid who was still standing. Looming large over the Lightweight like the Colossus of Rhodes. The pressure of her fighting spirit compelled the winner of the bout to flee the ring. To roll sloppily under the bottom rope and land upon the outside with a heavy thud and a whimper.
And only once she was outside of the confines of the ropes did Rose Gold allow herself to stand. Her eyes searched for Lexy. And when she found her she snarled. The first words out of her mouth were telling.
"Get my belt!" She demanded.
"We're leaving!"
There was no fanfare. No bragging. No shark's smile.
In the first few seconds after the bell rang, the arena was silent. Rose couldn't believe what she was witnessing, and neither could anyone in the crowd. Could this really be? Could the odds truly fall that, no matter what anyone was promised, no matter what everything was leading up to, Astrid would still be halted in her tracks, just as she was about to bring everything home?
It seemed as though everything had built up perfectly to Astrid's victory. It would set everything right. It would punish Rose for her ill-doings - for what she had done to Meiyun to inspire all of this, and for all she had done before in the reign of terror she had turned her championship run into. Things seemed even at first, and the tension climbed higher and higher with each time the action swayed back and forth - when Astrid got her hands on Rose, the crowd's spirits soared; when the lightweight countered her, they stomped their feet in rage, begging for the Norsewoman to fight back. But then, toward the end, it all seemed like it would be worth it. Astrid had Rose in her sights, she had the pressure on her, one good hit would take her down. The crowd booed Rose as she got Astrid into the Midas Clutch, but just as vigorously they cheered Astrid on when she looked to be about to reverse that on her. It would make everything she'd been through worthwhile, as long as she finally got to deliver Rose the comeuppance she deserved.
Up until that was all taken away from them at the last moment, with Astrid passing out in Rose's clutches, just before she could deliver the final blow. It hadn't been Rose's skills that had done Astrid in. It was a stroke of luck, and the Norsewoman's own stamina finally failing her. But either way...the official result had been called, and it was in Rose's favor.
Then, the boos started. As the gravity of the situation set in, as the people realized what they had witnessed, as they assured themselves it was real, and not some mass hallucination, the whole arena was drowned out in an uproar. Chants of "BULLSHIT!" and "FUCK YOU, ROSE!" echoed from wall to wall. The referee tried to raise her hands to the crowd in a desperate attempt to control the chaos, but it was hopeless. The fans began hurling trash into the ring, jumping up from their seats and slinging obscenities in every direction. When Rose and Lexy started to flee the scene, they rushed the barricades with whatever weapons they could find - men with chairs, drunks with empty bottles, and a couple of old women with hatpins, all grabbing and shoving to get closer to the woman who had whipped up an angry mob in just a few seconds. Rose may have had her supporters, but their enthusiasm was drowned out by the furor of all those who wanted to see her punished, with some of Astrid's fans emptying their drinks over the heads of spectators in Rose Gold shirts in lieu of their target herself. Security quickly ran to ringside to try and curtail the fans trying to push the barricades aside in order to get closer to the victorious Lightweight Champion. But it was hopeless - Rose was already gone.
And in the middle of it all, Astrid stayed there in the ring - still on her feet, still swaying limply in the air, but still with the muscles in her legs fixed rigidly into place, bracing her against the mat. The paramedics soon came by to check her, too, helping her down from the ring. But barely anyone was concentrated on what she was doing. What they knew was that Rose had to pay.
