A I R A vs Cecilia Lombard - Apex Qualifiers

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Aira glared straight to Cecilia. Much to her shock and the crowd's explosion in support. The claps were so loud following her recovery. Her gaze didn't broke as she distanced herself a bit while her hands gestured for Cecilia to come at her. Following the loud claps, the crowd started chanting out loud for Aira. "A-I-RA! A-I-RA! A-I-RA!" Followed with a rhythmical claps together with the chanting.

But Aira's focus wasn't on the crowd's support. She was insulted at how Cecilia thought she was already done. Before, she only wanted a strong showing no matter the result. But now... She really wanted to win, to show this bitch who've insulted her that whatever dirty tricks she got in her sleeve isn't going to be enough to beat her.

As Cecilia bounced off the rope, the clappings died down as the crowd watches in anticipation. The two wrestlers then equally took careful steps forward closing in to each other. Aira coming in with an arm stretched forward as she carefully reaches out to grab onto Cecilia. But Cecilia was faster in seizing Aira's wrist reached outwards. Without any chance to pull herself away. Aira was pulled in! Looking towards Cecilia's motion, Aira was sure that she'd strike with her knee!

With quick thinking, Aira jerked herself to the side, pulling her arm away to release herself from Cecilia's grip while also dodging the knee strike. She then pivoted immediately. Stumbling forward as she wrapped her arm around Cecilia's waist. Intending to find Cecilia's left wrist, she quickly grips it when she finds it and pushes Cecilia from the back. Forcing her to move forward and turn around. She then yanks Cecilia in like a ripcord and swings her open hand down to the side of Cecilia's neck! Aiming to hit her with a ripcord neck chop!

[CaptainL]

Cecilia clenched her teeth and hissed to herself, hearing the excitement with which the fans counted out each letter in Aira's name. It was so insipid it was almost insulting how head-over-heels they were with this girl; if anything, it just made Cecilia want all the more to crush the Indonesian just to prove to everyone how foolish their hopes were. Aira had barely even managed to faze her; how could they have hope for her to win! At the same time, though, Cecilia knew that she couldn't let down her guard. She couldn't let her irritation blind her to what truly mattered - and that was crushing the competition!

In a flash, Cecilia reached out to grab Aira by the wrist the moment the two of them came into range. She moved too quickly for her opponent to adjust as she reeled her in, dragging her into the path of a rising knee strike right for her sternum! Cecilia's smile began to grow wider with anticipation of when the blow would hit...but that never came. Instead, Aira managed to surprise her with her quick thinking and reflexes, and before it could land, Aira swerved out to the side, leaving her opponent's knee hanging in the air!

Cecilia barely had the time to let out a gasp, finding her grip slip away from Aira. A moment later, the girl got herself behind her, grabbing at her wrist from around her side. With Cecilia under control, it was now time for Aira to reel her into the path of a strike - in this case, spinning her around to face her in time for Aira to smack her palm right up against her neck!

Feeling the blow land with a smack that rang out through the arena, Cecilia winced, her body growing tense as her teeth clenched. She'd been taken by surprise, and the hit had left her feeling sore even now; the side of her neck still stung with the memory of the blow. The speed with which she'd been pulled into the path of Aira's strike didn't do her any favors, putting her at the mercy of her own momentum. She bent a little lower at the knees to sink inward, but she still remained on her feet, and when she looked back up at Aira it was with a glower of unbridled rage!

It was time to give Aira a piece of her mind. While the two of them were in close range, Cecilia would suddenly surge forward, attempting to slam her forehead against Aira's for a hard-hitting headbutt! It was hardly the most graceful or coordinated of moves, but Cecilia didn't care about that. She was mad, and she was going to take it all out on Aira!

[LowDefinition]

That chop on the chest rang out loud through the arena. Aira stood there, watching her opponent winces in pain as she stood bravely. Fully intent on making this show a test of strikes. Her eyes didn't move away from Cecilia's head as she bent down from how painful that chop was. She was angered, fully intent on giving Cecilia the taste of hurt that she had planned. "Ayo! Bangun jing! Gitu aja hah!?" She shouted out in her native tongue. That was her taunt to bring Cecilia up.

Looking at Cecilia recovering, she herself was in unbridled rage as well. It was a perfect moment for the two to show their strength in anger. Cecilia lunges forward suddenly! Without a window to react... Their foreheads clashed against each other!!! Aira's head rocked back as she stumbled back a few steps. She took a step forward after and hunched down, her knees bent slightly as she held her knees to stop herself from falling down. Her vision spinning from the blow as the painful rings echoed in her ears. No... She refuses to be brought down...

"HRRRRRAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Aira roared out, pushing her knees as she straighten herself. Her eyes widened as her head looked around the arena before turning her attention to Cecilia. Her arm reeled back before she swings it in wild! Aiming to hit Cecilia as strong as she could with her arm and just proceeds to flatten her to the canvas! No real tactics in mind... Just anger and desire to take her opponent down driving her to do it!

[CaptainL]

The sound of a crack rang through the arena as Cecilia threw her head forward, slamming her skull straight into Aira's own. Though a moment before they had been cheering louder and louder, getting hyped up by the sound of Aira's taunts, now the entire crowd joined one another in a collective wince, just imagining how much that had to hurt. Even Cecilia stopped to grumble to herself, rubbing at her temples to dull the pain left in her head as they broke away. But Aira seemed to have taken the worst of it, the impact knocking her back to her knees. Cecilia didn't even have the time to smirk at her this time, even if she would've normally been pleased with her efforts. Aira had pissed her off, and she wanted to get even - all she could do was snarl at her from behind clenched teeth, narrowing a piercing glare on her opponent as she stepped forward to stomp a foot on the ground!

Aira, too, was being whipped into a frenzy of desperation and determination. She might've been down, but she wouldn't stay there for long; she flung herself straight toward Cecilia, her arm whipping outward to throw a powerful punch! Seeing her body lunge forward and her arm swing out, the crowd's mood shifted once more - again they began to cheer for Aira, sure this would be the hit she needed to take Cecilia down! People began jumping up from their seats, chanting and calling to their hometown hero, with some raising their hands to their mouths to amplify their voices all the way to the ring. They wanted desperately for this to be the hit that changed everything!

...but Cecilia couldn't let it do that.

Just then, as Aira's fist came streaking toward her, Cecilia's arms swung up. Suddenly, she assumed a guard, deflecting the impact off of her forearms! Cecilia might have been just as worked up as Aira was, but when she saw that punch coming her way, so too could she see that Aira had gotten lost in the heat of the moment. She wasn't thinking things through; she was throwing caution to the wind - and Cecilia knew just where she'd need to be in order to counter her!

At once, the crowd again lit up in boos. Cecilia, to them, had taken Aira's comeback away from her, the same comeback she deserved! But Cecilia gave little heed to their words. While Aira still had an arm extended, Cecilia would reach out to grab it; if that was successful she would push back on it and get behind the Indonesian girl, looking to twist her arm over her back with a hammerlock!

[LowDefinition]

Aira really wanted to win, she also wanted to crush her opponent as much as she could. She abandoned tactics... Smarts... Her anger got the better of her and that would've costed her the match...

Aira's fist was deflected away, her eyes widen up as her arms extended away. And quickly before she could realize it. Cecilia took hold of that arm and twists it into a hammerlock as she gets behind her. "Gaaah!!!" She screamed out in pain as she flailed her free arm and kicking forward in reaction for a while. Calming down after a while, she then wriggled around trying to see a way to escape.

The Indonesian then reaches up and tries to grab Cecilia's neck. As she managed to do it, she would've extend her legs forward. Dropping herself down slowly while pulling Cecilia's head down as well. Forcing Cecilia to go down on her knees as well, and then... When she was successful with that approach, She let go of the hold on Cecilia's neck and then pushed her off before rolling away shoulder to shoulder. Pulling herself off from Cecilia's grip while rolling and took the control of the hold.

If she managed to get to this step... She then yanks Cecilia in and tries to give her another taste in her mind as she swings her head forward with her own headbutt!

[CaptainL]

It wasn't just Aira who wanted to win. The whole crowd was counting on her - every time she had Cecilia on the ropes they cheered; every time Cecilia turned things around on her they booed; and every time it seemed as though Cecilia had another dirty trick up her sleeve to secure the advantage, they were doing everything short of throwing a riot to warn Aira of what her opponent was setting up. She was their hometown hero, standing up to someone who held nothing but contempt for her and would stop at nothing to beat her down time and time again. And even when she took a beating, she was determined to shrug it off and keep fighting the good fight, refusing to let anything stand in her way. All of her fans believed in her, and they were inspired by the example she set with everything she did. If Aira could endure the tortures she'd gone through and keep on fighting, it seemed she could do anything!

Sure enough, even as it seemed that Cecilia had countered Aira's punch into a brutal hold, the Indonesian girl was already plotting her escape. Cecilia smirked a little wider as she twisted Aira's arm behind her back; she leaned forward a little bit more to press it in between her shoulder blades, forcing down more pressure on her joints. When she had no choice but to let out a scream, that was what caused Cecilia to snicker with sadistic amusement. "Yes, that's it...why don't you tell your fans just how much you like them, hmm?"

But just then, Aira reached back behind her, her arm moving little by little until it grabbed Cecilia's neck, and for just a moment, Cecilia's jaw dropped in a gasp. She had never expected her opponent to still have the strength in her to bust out a comeback when she was in straits as dire as these - but Aira was willing to put up with the pain, if it meant getting her hands on Cecilia! And from there, with Cecilia distracted, Aira was able to drop down, hitting the mat and forcing the American to follow her lead. As she felt the two of them dip lower, Cecilia tried to dig her heels into the mat, but she couldn't secure a good enough footing, and as the force of gravity grew to be too much to bear, she was forced to fall to her knees. In the process, her grip loosened enough for Aira to pull her arm free - and then, for her to turn herself around, coming to face Cecilia on the mat.

Cecilia was still adjusting to having the tables flipped on her so suddenly. She leaned in against Aira, her arms resting on her shoulders to try and stabilize herself as she caught her breath. But Aira wasn't giving her the time to do so. She was going to strike fast and hard - as she flung her head forward to smack it into Cecilia's own, their skulls colliding with the noise of a thunk!

Crying out in pain, Cecilia reeled backward, her fingers curled in between strands of hair as she clutched at her temples. Her other hand pressed against the canvas below, bracing her as she tried to stay up while the world around her spun. But when Cecilia looked back at Aira, it was through eyes that were narrowed in rage! She wasn't about to let this be the end - and while the two of them were still in close quarters, she would throw herself up against the Indonesian, her fist drawn back to unleash a punch to her gut!

[LowDefinition]

Aira had managed to pull a slight comeback, reversing the hammerlock skillfully as she countered with a double edged strike. A headbutt! As their skulls collide, Aira reeled backwards as well and let go of her grip. Her hand clutches onto her temples as she kneeled over Cecilia. She had to soldier on and proceed with her next offense! But when the two gazed at each other's eyes. She knew that it was all or nothing, if she could land another hit, surely... She could secure her victory after this!

"HRAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Aira roared out as she lift her right arm up high and bends it back. The two women charging in close to each other with different attacks... Aira threw any caution off to what kind of strike Cecilia have in mind as she drove her elbow down intending to hammer that elbow to her opponent's head! The two swings in...

"GUHAAKKKHHH!" Aira's eyes widen as she coughed up and found herself in a difficulty to breathe... A punch landed on her gut that halted her elbow halfway. Stunted at the blow... Aira drops her arms, her body felt weak as she leaned forward with that knuckle rested against her gut. The crowd gasped out as their hometown hero collapsed weakly against her enemy. "Hhh... Hhaaa..." Aira tried to gasp out to breathe as she fell to the side and laid sideways. Closing her eyes shut as her hands goes over to her gut and held it tightly.

[CaptainL]

Cecilia could still feel the pain in her head from where Aira's skull had rammed into her own. Her temples felt numb, and a ringing sensation went through her ears - but that didn't matter to her right now. She wasn't about to let Aira get away with this for long - she had her own ways of turning things around, and she was already formulating a plan as to how she was going to take back control. Aira was already drawing her arm back to return fire, but Cecilia had a blow of her own readied. The two girls were both crouched down low, locked eye to eye, where each of them could see what the other was doing; they followed each muscle as it tensed and flexed, and they knew what was to come if they couldn't get their shot off first. It had come down to a contest of who would act faster - and Cecilia was determined to win it.

Sure enough, even as Aira's arm swung straight down toward her head, Cecilia moved ever so slightly faster - and that difference was enough to let her come out on top. She dove underneath the path of Aira's elbow, closing in the distance to land a punch against her stomach before it could hit! Her knuckles pushed upward into the flesh of Aira's unprotected midsection, and as her fist followed its path upward in an arc, she could practically feel the breath being flattened out from Aira's lungs. The Indonesian crumpled against her fist; as she fell limp, it seemed that the fight had all been knocked out of her. The sight of it could only make Cecilia grin wider - this was exactly how she wanted to see Aira. Breathless, weak, and powerless.

Soon after, Aira slumped over to the side, rolling off of Cecilia's fist to land in a heap. The fans looked on in shock to see Aira seemingly defenseless, and just as many had begun to lay into Cecilia with boos and insults. But it wouldn't slow her down at all. In fact, she was just getting started.

"Oh, no...I'm not done with you," Cecilia hissed. She pushed at Aira's shoulders, looking to roll her on her back with one hand - and with her other, she would curl her fingers into an iron claw, which she then clamped down around Aira's midriff to further torture her abs! After the blow she'd already taken, Cecilia was sure it would hurt that much more!

[LowDefinition]

The sight of Aira falling down was a shock to the crowd. They were proud of their representation bringing a fight towards an opponent that weren't afraid to bring dirty tricks to bring her down. After surviving through many foul plays. It was as if this fight had brought her down to her limits. The Indonesian laid there, curled up and holding onto her stomach. Her eyes closed and gasping out for breathing. Fully defenseless as she felt her body heavy and unable to move the way she wanted to with all the damage she took.

She was then pushed to lay on her back. Fully exposed, and she couldn't react in time to Cecilia's next move... She could feel those fingers digging deep into her abdomen. Her eyes opened wide, gasping out as she could feel each fingers felt like a stake digging through to find her lung. "Ghhkkhhh---AAAAHHH!!!" She screamed out, her hand reaches out to Cecilia's arm in a futile attempt to push her off. Her legs kicking around in reaction to the pressure. "FFfhhhh!!!" Her eyes desperately looking out to the referee. It was as if she was begging for a release.

The referee took her gesture as if she was going to give up. The referee then asked with a hand reaching out. "Do you give up!?" They asked, hearing that question. Aira shook her head. She doesn't want to give up here... Not to a claw to her gut. Through her pained expression, she raises a finger and pointed to the ref. Wagging it lightly as she doesn't want to give up yet.

[CaptainL]

It didn't matter that everyone was booing her. The whole time, Cecilia looked down at her handiwork - seeing Aira crumpled beneath her, writhing in pain, and begging for mercy. The corners of her mouth curled upward into a smug smile. This was exactly what she'd hoped for - coming all this way to demolish the crowd's fan-favorite hometown hero in front of them; proving that no matter how much love and support she got she would never match up to her. If Cecilia was heading to Apex, she was out to make a statement about how she could never be dominated - and so far, she was proving her point quite well.

"Yes...that's it..." she teased, leaning in closer as she listened to Aira screaming in pain. "Hurts, doesn't it?~" No matter how much Aira tried to break away from Cecilia's grip, nothing seemed to work for her. As the Indonesian girl looked back at the referee, Cecilia only smiled wider - she was sure that a submission was imminent. Then, she would have proven that nothing could stop her from advancing to the title scene. Not even the best wrestler Jakarta had to offer, with a packed stadium of her comrades to rally her on.

But instead, Aira shook her head. She stood defiant, even in the face of the utmost suffering! Cecilia's eyes widened in shock for a brief moment. Was she actually doing this? Was she this tough - or this stupid? A part of her was impressed that Aira was being this tenacious. But one way or another, Cecilia was winning this match. She'd already made up her mind - and it wouldn't be long until she moved in to enact the next phase of her plan. If this wasn't enough to take Aira down, she'd just have to try harder!

"So be it, then..." At last, Cecilia released her grasp on Aira's midsection - only to draw her arm back and unleash a sharp chop straight across her face instead!