Meeting Your Idols: Astrid Ostberg (c) vs. Tina Kelley

[SimplyWoo]

As Astrid felt limp in her grip, she gave her a few more bounces in her grip to slide her grip even tighter. She looked like she was a kid at a county fair that was hugging a giant stuffed doll for the prize they received, and Astrid was the cuddly doll. Her arms trembled from the pressure of the squeeze and from the strain of trying to maintain the hold. Her eyes were shut tight as she Astrid's side of her head resting on her breasts as she arched herself back to cause Astrid's upper body to lean a little more into her as she heard the ref count, 1, her arms felt like they are going to go limp, but, if this was her moment to show if she was championship material, then her first act was to fight through the strain and fatigues like a champion. She heard the 2 as she her groaning was becoming slowly more audible. "Gnnnhhhhhrrrrrggghhh..." as she let out one long grunt, pouring everything she could into the bearhug to try to make sure that Astrid remained too weak to lift that arm up before the third drop as she shut her eyes tight as squeezed for as long as a hungry number one contender could.

[Bare]

Everyone in the arena was in a fever pitch and who could blame them? After such a competitive, intense bout between champion and challenger the only thing that could have those in attendance even more enthralled was the possibility of a new champ! A outcome that was looking more and more possible with each passing second of Tina having her Kinetic Krush locked in tight on Astrid, quite literally squeezing the considerable fight out of Astrid to potentially end the match and take the championship from the norwegian warrior!

But not everyone was satisfied with such a possible outcome, nor would they allow it to happen so easily. Seconds after Astrid's hand had fallen for the second time and just as it was being risen for the third, the lights would suddenly go out causing everyone to murmur in confusion until suddenly sounds of commotion and violence began to emanate from the ring! Confusion turned to hysteria as the hyped up fans began wondering what had happened, no way would Astrid cheat by resorting to some trick, nor would Tina, especially if she was poised to win. So who?

The fans would soon get their answer since once the lights turned back on it showed none other than Selket, Astrid's former challenger and tormenter, choking Tina out with a egyptian crook! To the side was both a laid out Astrid, as well as what appeared to be a flail and the referee, with everyone besides selket now sporting new bruises as a result of the Pharaohs tool Selket had brought into the ring with her! "Remember me?" Selket whispered airily into Tina's ear, reminding the woman of their first encounter in.

"You didn't think that I'd allow you to take whats mine did you?" Selket asked, giving an extra sharp tug on the crook she was choking Tina with from behind before nipping the woman's ear. Bell immediately ringing frantically to signal Selket to stop she did no such thing.. In fact, the woman would soon turn her attention to Astrid's still form on the mat.

"Don't think I forgot about you my dear Drengr!" Selket called out too Astrid in a faux friendly tone before turning Tina around and swiftly whacking her on top of the head with the crook before tossing the weapon away, and before Tina could fall Selket would grab the woman's face, forcing her into a swift and searing kiss before suddenly lifting her off her feet and turning her around into a piledriver position! "Don't think I'll let either of you forget about me!" She said while walking over to Astrid's form with Tina's head pointed at Astrid's no doubt hurting ribs.. before dropping down to piledrive Tina head first onto them!

[SimplyWoo]

By the time the lights came back on, Tina was gagging and had her hands up gripping the crook in front of her, but she was too exhausted and weak to struggle as some fans of Selket cheered, but most of the fans of the other two competitors let out audible gasps. She couldn't get a good look at Selket's face, but hearing the whisper and knowing who has made a appearance with some flickering of lights and the laughter, that voice that whispered into her ears made her eyes widen. "You!" was all she was able to gasp out with her eyed widened, clearly haunted by the voice behind her as Selket nibbled on her ear as the crowd began to boo when the ref rang the bell, sure not the way the crowd in attendance expected the match to go down. She was then spun and let out a weak groan as the impact to her head caused her to slump back, but she was then caught by Selket and look a hollywood monster capturing the damsel, she was limp and pulled into a kiss that she couldn't respond to as the Crook knocked her out.

She was then nothing but a ragdoll as she was pulled up into piledriver position and walked over towards the downed Astrid. She couldn't even protect herself in ways that one does on the receiving end of the piledriver. Her arms flopping down limp to the mat at Astrid's side as her was on the path of colliding with Astrid's ribs with the incoming stiff piledriver.

[CaptainL]

A second time, the referee lifted Astrid's hand, and a second time, it flopped down lifelessly to the mat. Then, the Norsewoman's arm was raised again. The crowd was silent, watching with wide eyes; everyone was afraid that so much as blinking could cause them to miss out on history being made. As far as anyone knew, Astrid was just seconds away from dropping her title. She had fought long and hard, putting forth her best efforts against Tina in a desperate duel to prove her strength and resilience in the face of crushing pressure both literal and figurative. The two had been evenly matched from the beginning, meeting each move and each application of force with an equal response. Even down to when the two had exchanged bear hugs, it had looked like it was anyone's game, with both women straining just as hard against each others' embrace. But now, it seemed, a victory from Tina might just be in the cards.

At the very last moment, just as Astrid's wrist reached its zenith, the champion blinked back to her senses. The light returned to her eyes, and she glanced up to see Tina still holding onto her tight, their well-muscled bodies pressed so tightly she could feel even the sweat trickling down her opponent's abs. So too she would gasp when she realized that she was seconds away from being declared the loser via knockout. She knew what she needed to do; she prepared to raise her other hand, looking to brace it against Tina's shoulder to shove her away...

But just before Astrid could do that, the lights cut out. At first, she was baffled, her eyes going wide in shock. Not until the lights came back on would her questions be answered - where she would see Selket standing just behind Tina, pulling her aside with a crook! As the blue-haired woman's arms gave way, and Astrid slipped backward to fall against the mat with a thud, the Norwegian stared toward Selket with a gasp. This was the same woman who had challenged her for her title a year before in a brawl that went through the entire arena, who had stalked her and intimidated her throughout the entire build leading up to the match, just to convince her to lose confidence in herself and let down her guard. Astrid had defeated her, and she had thought that would be enough to put an end to her tricks. But now, it seemed, Selket wasn't done with her.

In fact, the more Astrid thought about it, the more it dawned on her. After her defeat against Rose Gold, some had argued that she had dishonored the Heavyweight Championship through losing to a smaller opponent. Astrid had been looking to disprove that - the title meant the world to her, and the mere thought of letting it slip into meaninglessness and inferiority incensed her! She had gone into her next few title defenses in the name of proving herself as still being a viable champion, of a title that meant something. And, for a moment, it looked as though she was on track to do so by standing up against an opponent who could match her in every respect...but in the end, she hadn't even been able to beat her on her own. Even if Astrid was seconds away from recovering, it wouldn't matter. The way the world would see it, it had been Selket who intervened at the last minute to save the champion's hide. And once again, she would be made a fool of, and so would everyone who held or challenged for the title before her, and everyone since.

Astrid's teeth tightened into a snarl. Her whole body went rigid; as she pushed herself up from the mat, she balled a fist to slam it into the canvas. "YOU!!" she barked at Selket. "Do you REALIZE what you've done!?" This wasn't even about their prior rivalry, or dragging it here, or even endangering Tina in the process. No, Astrid was angry because Selket had ruined her efforts to restore dignity to the Heavyweight Championship, and it was that that fueled her as she prepared to push herself off the mat, ready to throw a fist headlong at the Egyptian...

...Just in time for Selket to hold Tina upside down, and to drop her straight down onto Astrid's ribs! Having a woman as large as Tina piledriven into anyone was going to hurt - but when Astrid had just endured the force of the Kinetic Krush, her ribs were already sore and bruised. A hard enough impact to the same site was going to be debilitating. And that was just what Selket had done to her.

Grabbing her side, Astrid let out a scream, falling to her back. She writhed in pain, kicking her legs in the air as she tried to crawl away from Tina on her back. She needed to get away; everything hurt too much!

[Pegasus]

William had paid much attention to the match from the sidelines keeping his support on Astrid and was worried seeing her in this much pain. Astrid had been through much in her career to know that taking a beating was the mark of a true champion, but even this seemed a bit much. William had to think fast as he saw both Astrid and Tina messed with at the hands of Selket. The piledriver alone looked devastating and Astrid was writhing in pain so Will had enough. He stormed into the ring and got Astrid out of there sliding her under the bottom rope. He even got Tina up to help her out of the ring before he eyed up Selket.

“You think you can just walk in here and do what you want? Fine! Let’s see you try this on for size!” William exclaimed as he charges in for a Spear at Selket, but surely, this would result in a fall from grace for William.

[Bare]

Selket had one intention when she entered the ring tonight, and that intention was to remind both Astrid and Tina exactly who she was. To Tina, that she was the woman that dismantled and defeated her well before she went on her winning streak, and to Astrid? That Selket was the one who had come closest to beating her, and that if Rose Gold could do it, so could she. In fact being able to stomp out Astrid's protest of interrupting the match by piledriving the challenger into the champions stomach felt immensely good. Now here she stood, watching as two of her most hated rivals writhed on the mat in utter agony, clearly having too exhausted and in pain too do much of anything in response to what she had done.

Though they were saved form further pain when a knight in shining armor came to ring side, Astrid's little fiance if Selket recalled correctly, pulling both women out of the ring before entering himself with a rather furious expression. Waving her fingers at him as he charged like a bull, but all he would be met with was a puff of smoke before Selket's form disappeared from where she was previously. Gone from the ring there would only be one last thing to accompany her attack on this match. "KUFUFUFUFUFU." Loudly and on loop, Selket's laughter would echo throughout the arena on the building's speaker system to mark what and when Selket had done this, and that she had enjoyed every single moment of it.

[CaptainL]

No one could deny that this match had been full of surprises. That Tina looked ready to take Astrid down had been enough of a thrilling upset - but no one could see it coming when Selket appeared in the ring to make her presence known. Now that Selket had interjected in the match, all bets were off - and when William came charging toward the Egyptian, it became clearer than ever that the entire match had descended into a free-for-all!

Astrid had been reeling from Tina being piledriven into her ribs. She had gone rolling back and forth over the mat, writhing in pain and crying out with hoarse screams. Her entire side felt numb from where the challenger's head had struck her ribs, yet every time she moved too far, her bruised torso throbbed once more with a firey sensation, leaving her squeezing her eyes shut to hold back tears of pain as she clutched at her side. But when Astrid looked back up at what was happening before her, her eyes narrowed into a glare, and her teeth clenched in a grimace. No matter how much it hurt her, she knew this was something she couldn't allow to hold her back. Selket had denied her her chance to prove the worthiness of the Heavyweight Championship - and she had denied Tina a chance to apply herself for the honor, too. It was an insult both to Astrid and to her opponent, who had proven herself to be in almost every way her equal. And that meant that Astrid was doubly motivated to settle the score!

"GET BACK HERE, YOU-!!" Astrid screamed in rage. Her fingers clawed at the mat as she shoved herself back up; no matter how much the fatigue had set into her sore body, it wouldn't be enough to slow her down when she was propelled by a burning rage to get her hands on Selket! But even as Astrid rose to her feet, and even as she took a few staggering steps forward to close in on Selket, it would be too late. Before William could catch up to her, the Priestess had vanished into thin air!

Astrid skidded to a stop just a few inches shy of where Selket had stood, watching the smoke rising from the ring. She let out a sigh, shaking her head in disgust. "Coward..." she muttered under her breath, "still won't face me in a real match." Then, her eyes turned to her fiance, who had landed in a heap on the mat. They focused in on him with a glare - not quite as piercing as the one she had shown Selket, but it was still abundantly clear the Norsewoman wasn't happy, as she grabbed William by the arm to lift him to his feet. There, she planted both hands on his shoulders, staring him straight in the eye.

"What were you thinking?" she shouted. "This is my honor to defend! Leave me to it! And I especially don't want to see you throwing yourself into danger like that! Don't scare me!" Astrid's teeth clenched, and her eyelid trembled as her fingers squeezed tighter at William's shoulders. She had only wanted to prove she was capable of defending her title, and carrying the honor it conveyed. Yet everything seemed to get in her way. Even if William's heart was in the right place, she didn't need help from him any more than she needed it from Selket.

[Pegasus]

William charged for Selket after helping Astrid and Tina get out of the way as he was going for the priestess. William almost reached Selket with his hands outstretched, but smoke blinded his vision as he crashed into the ropes. Will coughed as he looked around him seeing Selket disappear into thin air as he raised an eyebrow. Selket’s laugh echoed throughout the arena as he sat up, but he had no time to recollect his thoughts before Astrid picked him up.

Astrid shouted at him about getting in the way of her defending the title’s honor and putting himself in danger right after he got the sling off. William was put off by this as he was only trying to help.

“Oh, so I’m just suppose to let my love end up in the hospital again?! Put your pride aside for once, Astrid! You could’ve gotten hurt! You passed out and almost lost! And you’re getting on me for saving your life? Where’s your priorities at?!” William shot back ensuing a fight between the engaged couple.

[SimplyWoo]

When all the chaos ensued and Tina was pulled out of the ring, it was not a graceful landing as she was out cold and while it was no fault of William's, trying to move two people out of the ring at the same time as Tina was still out cold from the crook to the skull, however dropping onto the ground below did cause her eyes to flutter a little bit as she grimaced slowly sitting herself up as she cupped the back of her neck with both hands as she looked at the ground, trying to blink out the blurred vision. She then lifted her head up as her eyes widened as the announcer called out. "Ladies and gentleman, the result of this match, is a no contest." to which the crowd definitely delivered boos as Tina shut her eyes, looking up in the air, doing her best to keep her composure. She was right there at the end, so close, yet thanks to outside interference, that opportunity slipped from her fingers.

She then looked over to see Astrid and William arguing. She wanted to go over and talk to Astrid, to see if she was ok, but she could hear the anger within Astrid and her fiance and thought it would be best to leave them alone as she whispered to herself. "I guess that autographed workout video will have to wait some other time." She mentioned as she slowly pushed herself up to her feet, continuing to hold the back of her neck as she staggered forward. She raised a hand to William and Astrid as if to let them know she was heading to the back as she slowly walked up the ramp, looking up and trying to hold back her emotions as she started to tear up, it was hard not to feel disappointed, it was like losing the lottery by being a digit off. She was hoping regardless of the outcome, she would still get a chance to chat with her idol, but one person initiated their act of chaos, flapping there wings to cause a tornado to fall upon on the main event.

[CaptainL]

This wasn't about Selket. True, she and Astrid had no shortage of grief with one another - it had, after all, been Astrid who had defeated the Egyptian when she had set her sights on the title around her waist, and Astrid herself had reason to be mad at Selket after she had needled her and antagonized her non-stop leading into their match. But that was behind her now. Astrid's feud with Selket had ended when she had hit her with a Stavanger Buster from several feet in the air at Fight the LAW. Now, the real reason she wanted her hands on Selket so badly was to get her back for depriving her of the chance to uphold herself as a capable wrestler and a champion worthy of all her accolades. And when William seemed just as eager to fight her battles for her, she wasn't going to go any easier on him, whether or not he was her fiance.

For a moment, as she and William exchanged shouts, Astrid was tense. Her muscles were firmed up, and her fingers were clasped tightly around William's shoulders as she stared him dead in the eyes with her teeth clenched in a snarl. No matter who it was, she thought, she had to be ready to stand up for herself - to her, the title was everything, and if she couldn't prove her worth of holding the title by her own merits, she didn't truly deserve it. And perhaps what was worse was how it would prove Cyber Widow right. Astrid wasn't about to let that happen.

But...at the end of the day, it was still William. Still the same man who had been by Astrid's side at any chance he got, who had waited on her throughout all her trips around the world, and who had gone out of his way to pick her up at the airport even with his arm in a sling. No matter how much Astrid cared about her title, she also cared about her family. And William was family, too. When she heard the venom in his voice, it began to sink into her heart that he had never been this mad at her before. It had been Astrid herself who had done that. Maybe...she had gone too far.

Her posture softening, the Norsewoman let out a sigh, glancing down at the ground. Tears began to form in her eyes, and though she tried to steady herself, biting at her lip to try and look strong, she couldn't help but let loose a sob. "You're...you're right, Will. I'm sorry...I got so caught up in wanting to defend the honor of the title, I didn't realize what I was doing to you. God...that's so selfish of me, isn't it..?"

When the referee announced the result of the match as a no-contest, and when the champion looked up to see Tina exiting the ring, Astrid sighed, and her shoulders slumped low against a long and heavy exhale. A moment ago, she had been thrilled to be taking on someone who had seen her as a role model; it had been an honor to know her influence in the wrestling world could be felt, and to see for herself the heights to which she could stir a promising young contender like Tina. But none of that mattered any more. Selket had spoiled everything, and in just a few short seconds, a dark cloud had been cast over everyone's moods - Astrid's, Tina's, and the whole crowd's. If there was anything anyone knew, it was that the business with Selket seemed far from finished...